Anxietyhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/category/anxiety
en-usFri, 22 Feb 2019 06:55:57 -0500Fri, 22 Feb 2019 06:55:57 -0500The latest news on Anxiety from INSIDERhttps://static3.thisisinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttps://www.thisisinsider.com
https://www.thisisinsider.com/morning-anxiety-causes-emotion-neuroscientist-2019-2A neuroscientist says a simple question can defuse the anxiety you feel when your morning alarm goes offhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/morning-anxiety-causes-emotion-neuroscientist-2019-2
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 16:06:42 -0500Mark Abadi
<p><img class="center" src="https://static2.thisisinsider.com/image/5c633644dde86775e433668f-1250/screen shot 2019-02-12 at 23323 pm 1.png" border="0" alt="feldman barrett" data-mce-source="TED" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><span>Many people feel anxious when they wake up in the morning as they think about the coming day.</span></li>
<li><span>But neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett said that morning dread could simply be your brain's response to physical discomfort, like tiredness, hunger, or dehydration.</span></li>
<li><span>If you feel distress in the morning, she said you should ask yourself: Could this have a purely physical cause?</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span>For some people, anxiety starts the moment their alarm goes off in the morning.</span></p>
<p><span>It's an experience you may be familiar with. You wake up and immediately think of all the things you have to do that day &mdash; fight through traffic to get to work, sift through a mounting backlog of emails, run errands &mdash; and suddenly, getting out of bed just got that much harder.</span></p>
<p><span>But according to one scientist, that feeling of morning dread could really just be your body trying to tell you something.</span></p>
<p><span>Lisa Feldman Barrett, a neuroscientist and author of "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/How-Emotions-Are-Made-Secret/dp/1328915433?tag=teco06-20">How Emotions Are Made</a>," says that emotions are essentially our brain's way of making guesses.</span></p>
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<p><span>"Anytime you feel miserable, it&rsquo;s because you are experiencing an unpleasant effect due to physical sensations," Barrett <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_feldman_barrett_you_aren_t_at_the_mercy_of_your_emotions_your_brain_creates_them">said in a 2017 TED Talk</a>. "Your brain will try to predict causes for those sensations, and the more concepts you know and the more instances you can construct, the more effectively you can recategorize to manage your emotions and regulate your behavior."</span><span></span></p>
<p><span>So when we feel awful in the morning and we start to feel anxious, it isn't necessarily pointing to larger problems, Barrett said. There are all sorts of physical explanations that could be leading our brains astray.</span></p>
<p><span>"Your brain is trying to explain what caused those sensations so that you know what to do about them. But those sensations might not be an indication that anything is wrong with your life," Barrett said. "They might have a purely physical cause. Maybe you're tired. Maybe you didn't sleep enough. Maybe you're hungry. Maybe you're dehydrated."</span></p>
<p><span><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/to-do-list-productivity-rule-2019-2">A New York Stock Exchange exec uses the '1-3-5 rule' to eliminate lingering guilt over an unfinished to-do list</a></em></span></p>
<p>"The next time that you feel intense distress, ask yourself: <strong>Could this have a purely physical cause?</strong>"</p>
<p>The ability to recognize and manage our emotions is what scientists call <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/emotional-intelligence-how-to-develop-2018-7">emotional intelligence</a>, and it can help us succeed at work and in relationships. Improving one's emotional intelligence isn't easy, but Barrett said it's possible with a little practice.</p>
<p>"I am telling you that you have more control over your emotions than you might imagine," she said. "You have the capacity to turn down the dial on emotional suffering and its consequences for your life by learning how to construct your experiences differently."</p>
<h2><a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_feldman_barrett_you_aren_t_at_the_mercy_of_your_emotions_your_brain_creates_them">Watch the full TED Talk &raquo;</a></h2><p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/morning-anxiety-causes-emotion-neuroscientist-2019-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/most-beautiful-places-in-the-world-2019-1">49 of the most beautiful places in the world</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/how-to-deal-with-travel-anxiety-2019-210 tips to help you deal with travel anxietyhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/how-to-deal-with-travel-anxiety-2019-2
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 15:33:04 -0500Sophia Mitrokostas
<p><img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5bd8a24248eb122c7a78f139-2400/gettyimages-78605638.jpg" border="0" alt="Airport" data-mce-source="Mario Tama/ Getty" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><strong><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/category/travel">Traveling</a> can cause <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/category/stress">stress</a> and <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/category/anxiety">anxiety</a>.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Anxious travelers should make sure to be as prepared as possible for their journey.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Traveling with others, using relaxation techniques, and talking to a mental health professional could also help ease travel anxiety. &nbsp;</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Travel can be a thrilling adventure, but for some people, it can also trigger major anxiety and stress. Whether it's spending hours in a cramped airplane cabin or finding your way around a new city, traveling can present unique challenges and stumbling blocks for people with anxiety. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are a few tips and tricks to help you deal with travel anxiety.</span></p>
<h2><strong>Don't leave anything to the last minute </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Preparing for a trip can be stressful even if you don't struggle with anxiety. In order to make your travel experience as calm as possible, try to make sure you're completely ready to go a full 24 hours before you actually need to depart. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers (IAMAT),</span><a href="https://www.iamat.org/elibrary/view/id/1383#"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">planning ahead is a crucial part</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of avoiding anxiety during travel.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For most people, this preparation will involve having your bags completely packed, printing out any tickets or reservations, and checking in to all flights. You might also want to book taxis in advance, prep your meals for your travel day, and set out your traveling clothes. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<h2><strong>If possible, try to travel with others</strong></h2>
<p><strong><img src="https://static2.thisisinsider.com/image/5ab27fa18c00fd19008b45bf-1356/bridesmaids-plane.jpg" border="0" alt="bridesmaids plane" data-mce-source="Universal Pictures" data-mce-caption="Flying doesn't always have to be scary." /></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Solo travel can be a rewarding experience, but anxious travelers</span><a href="https://www.iamat.org/elibrary/view/id/1380"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">might benefit from having someone at their side</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Enlisting a trusted friend or relative to share the burden of planning, provide reassurance, and help navigate unfamiliar surroundings can decrease stress levels. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you need to travel alone, try scheduling regular check-in times with family members or friends to keep you feeling connected and help you talk through any travel-related stress you might be experiencing. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<h2><strong>Squeeze in some exercise before your trip&nbsp;</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For an easy way to quickly allay anxiety before a trip, try scheduling a bit of pre-travel exercise. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), exercise and other physical activity produce endorphins that</span><a href="https://adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/managing-anxiety/exercise-stress-and-anxiety"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">can reduce tension, improve mood, and decrease stress.</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> In fact, just five minutes of aerobic exercise can begin to stimulate anti-anxiety effects.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> If you're feeling anxious about being cooped up in a crowded plane or worried about navigating an unfamiliar city, a brisk walk might help.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Read more: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/working-out-benefits-mental-health-2017-12">If you suffer from anxiety, you may want to think twice before skipping your next workout</a></span></em></p>
<h2><strong>Avoid alcohol and caffeine to keep your anxiety in check</strong></h2>
<p><strong><img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5bb5d5f601145542dd5fefa2-1778/coffee mornings.jpg" border="0" alt="coffee mornings" data-mce-source="kikovic / Shutterstock" data-link="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-red-nails-sitting-holding-hot-326718836?src=kOoilp10WuEcBFnpsPqp6w-1-14" /></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Being on vacation might seem like the perfect reason to indulge in a cocktail or extra cup of coffee, but experts warn that alcohol and caffeine should be avoided if you're looking to keep anxiety to a minimum. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to <a href="https://adaa.org/tips-manage-anxiety-and-stress">the ADAA</a>, these substances</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">can aggravate anxiety and trigger panic attacks</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Opt for an alcohol- and caffeine-free treats like a fruit smoothie, sparkling water, or decaffeinated coffee instead. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<h2><strong>Indulge in soothing activities at your destination </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Self-care can be an important part of dealing with stress in everyday life, but it's especially crucial to give yourself plenty of downtime for relaxing if travel triggers anxiety for you. Try scheduling soothing activities like massages, spa trips, yoga sessions, or walks out in nature to combine holiday indulgence with anxiety-reducing self-care. &nbsp;</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It's also important to make sure you're not packing every spare moment at your destination with demanding activities:</span><a href="https://www.iamat.org/elibrary/view/id/1380"> K<span style="font-weight: 400;">now your mental and physical limits</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. If you need an hour or two of solitude in order to decompress and recharge, don't worry about "wasting" vacation time or disappointing others. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Take the time to make sure you're psychologically ready to tackle planned activities and know when to change your plans to keep your anxiety from escalating. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<h2><strong>Practice relaxation techniques even before you go</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Practice finding calm through breathing exercises, meditation, or journaling</span><a href="https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/preventing-falls/fear-and-anxiety-about-falling/relaxation-techniques"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">even before you set off on your journey</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. The more comfortable and familiar you are with relaxation techniques, the easier it will be to employ them during stressful travel situations.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It can also be helpful to have a go-to relaxation toolkit that might include things like a playlist of calming music, a bottle of calming essential oil, or particularly soothing visualization exercise. It can also be helpful to practice body-based relaxation techniques</span><a href="https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/preventing-falls/fear-and-anxiety-about-falling/relaxation-techniques"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">such as progressive muscle relaxation</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, where you tense the muscles in a particular body part for 10 seconds before releasing them.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<h2><strong>Research your destination thoroughly and save important info offline</strong></h2>
<p><strong><img src="https://static6.thisisinsider.com/image/5c6309edeb3ce807d066d903-895/shutterstock227463739.jpg" border="0" alt="woman on laptop a working at night" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" data-link="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pretty-young-woman-burning-midnight-oil-227463739?src=DPZxdx1x-SD_OfOOt06xkg-1-4" /></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you are someone who needs to feel in control in order to relax, planning an itinerary and researching your destination is a good way to relieve<strong>&nbsp;</strong>some of those pre-trip jitters. Knowing which local restaurants cater to your dietary needs, when must-see museums or attractions are open, and how to access public transportation can go a long way to making you feel prepared to spend time in a new place. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Once you've done your research, be sure to you can access all that important information offline. You can go the old-fashioned route and print out hotel and restaurant reservations, maps and a day-by-day itinerary, or simply save the info to your phone in the form of notes or screenshots. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<h2><strong>Try a fear-of-flying program or app</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If your travel anxiety is rooted in a fear of flying, you might want to check out a program or app specially designed to help nervous flyers overcome their aversion to plane travel. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The</span><a href="https://www.fearofflying.com"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">SOAR app</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> was designed by Captain Tom Bunn, MSW, LCSW, and a former US Air Force pilot and commercial jet pilot. It's part of the larger SOAR fear-of-flying&nbsp;program and includes anxiety-allaying creatures like turbulence forecasts and videos of Captain Bunn walking you through each step of the flight process. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And according to </span><a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/aerophobia-fear-of-flying-2671844"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Verywell mind</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, experts agree that the best way to overcome the fear of flying is actually controlled exposure through flight simulation or actual flight. That means that every time you fly, you're actually helping yourself become more comfortable with the experience</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<h2><strong>Get travel insurance that covers emergency mental-health situations &nbsp;</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Travel insurance is a good way to protect your health and financial well-being while traveling. According to </span><a href="https://www.iamat.org/elibrary/view/id/1383"><span style="font-weight: 400;">IAMAT</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, however, most standard travel health insurance plans don't cover mental-health conditions. This means that if you require emergency medication or hospitalization due to your anxiety or panic disorder, you could be left paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In order to avoid this scenario, make sure your travel insurance is from a company that covers psychiatric care. Depending on your individual situation, you might also want to look into coverage that includes emergency medical evacuation and repatriation. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<h2><strong>Talk to your doctor to identify possible treatments for your travel anxiety</strong></h2>
<p><strong><img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5c630aa3eb3ce8092c38f822-955/gypsy-netflix-canceled.jpg" border="0" alt="gypsy therapy" data-mce-source="Netflix" /></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some people who don't otherwise experience anxiety may find that traveling can trigger episodes of panic or extreme stress. If that sounds like you, it may be worth checking in with a healthcare provider to figure out if therapy or medication might help you deal with travel-related anxiety. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to <a href="https://www.verywellmind.com/panic-disorder-and-traveling-2584091">Verywell Mind</a>, a doctor may be able to diagnose any underlying issues or conditions that are stopping you from enjoying your travels, as well as recommend medication to help you deal with panic symptoms. &nbsp;</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/causes-of-flight-turbulence-on-airplane-2017-12" >What airplane turbulence is, and why it's no big deal</a></strong></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/how-to-deal-with-travel-anxiety-2019-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/we-tried-a-pen-that-erases-makeup-mistakes-2019-1">We tried a pen that erases makeup mistakes.</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/cardi-b-postpartum-depression-mental-health-2019-2Cardi B has opened up about her mental healthhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/cardi-b-postpartum-depression-mental-health-2019-2
Fri, 08 Feb 2019 06:17:00 -0500Lindsay Dodgson
<p><img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5c5d5806eb3ce812010e6c83-1993/gettyimages-1042106286.jpg" border="0" alt="cardi b" data-mce-source="Theo Wargo/Getty Images"></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><strong>In an interview with Harpers Bazaar, Cardi B opened up about her mental health. </strong></li>
<li><strong>She said she suffered from postpartum depression after her daughter Kulture was born. </strong></li>
<li><strong>She didn't think it was going to happen, but out of nowhere "the world was heavy on my shoulders."</strong></li>
<li><strong>Cardi has spoken about her mental health in the past, including the anxiety of being a musician and coming out with top hits. </strong></li>
<li><strong>She said she is "over" social media, and has taken a step back from it.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Cardi B recently <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a25996656/cardi-b-interview-2019/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke to Harpers Bazaar</a> about everything from her turbulent relationship with rapper Offset to her nails in her "rags to riches" story. </p>
<p>She also opened up about her mental health, including that she suffered from postpartum depression after her daughter Kulture was born in July 2018. </p>
<p>"I thought I was going to avoid it," she said. "When I gave birth, the doctor told me about postpartum, and I was like, 'Well, I'm doing good right now, I don't think that's going to happen.' But out of nowhere, the world was heavy on my shoulders."</p>
<p>She also said she isn't breastfeeding Kulture, who she calls KK, because it's "too hard."</p>
<p>"For some reason, I still don't feel like my body's the same," Cardi said. "I feel like I don't have my balance right yet. When it comes to heels, I'm not as good at walking anymore. I feel like I'm holding a weight on me. I don't know why because I'm skinnier than I've ever been. But there's an energy I haven't gotten back yet that I had before I was pregnant. It's just the weirdest thing."</p>
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<p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/BtKKwUplAlZ/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">I gotta fly I need a jet yea I need room for my legs , I got a baby I need some money shiieeet I need cheese for my egg ❤️ #Reebok</a>
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<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#c9c8cd; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by CARDIVENOM (@iamcardib) on Jan 27, 2019 at 4:55pm PST on
<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-01-28T00:55:22+00:00">Jan 27, 2019 at 4:55pm PST</time></p>
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<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/celebrities-who-had-postpartum-depression-ppd-2017-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">21 celebrity mums who got real about having postpartum depression after their kids were born</a></em></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/cardi-b-cancels-bruno-mars-tour-underestimated-demands-of-being-a-mom-2018-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cardi had to drop out of a tour with Bruno Mars</a> soon after she gave birth.</p>
<p>"I thought that after giving my birth to my daughter that 6 weeks would be enough time for me to recover mentally and physically," <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Blty-U8BWzI/?taken-by=iamcardib" target="_blank" rel="noopener">she wrote on Instagram</a>. </p>
<p>"I also thought that I'd be able to bring her with me on tour, but I think I underestimated this whole mommy thing... Not only am I just not ready physically, I'm not ready to leave my baby behind since the doctors explained it's not healthy for her to be on the road."</p>
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<p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/BmyfXnxhB4o/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">KultureK</a>
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<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2018-08-22T17:05:21+00:00">Aug 22, 2018 at 10:05am PDT</time></p>
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<p>Mars responded with a "message for Cardi B" on Twitter, which said the "most important thing is you and your family's health," and "You are absolutely doing the right thing."</p>
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.. <a href="https://twitter.com/iamcardib?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@iamcardib</a> 🙌 <a href="https://t.co/SeLAA9SoIS">pic.twitter.com/SeLAA9SoIS</a> </p>— Bruno Mars (@BrunoMars) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1022651650463346689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2018</a>
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<p>Cardi said in the interview that she's been spending less time on social media, and that responding makes things worse a lot of the time.</p>
<p>"I'm just over it," she said. "I really don't need it, and sometimes it just brings chaos to my brain."</p>
<p>Earlier this week, Cardi posted a tweet saying "Anxiety is kicking my ass right now," after performing at the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest and starring in the Pepsi Super Bowl commercial last weekend.</p>
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Anxiety is kicking my ass right now . </p>— iamcardib (@iamcardib) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1092640233533845504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 5, 2019</a>
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<p>She received plenty of supportive comments, including messages from Missy Elliot and Sarah Silverman. </p>
<p>"You got this. Just exist," Silverman wrote. "You'll come out the other side I promise."</p>
<p>Missy Elliot said: "Many people deal with this... I am one... it's real."</p>
<p>In 2018, Cardi <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8301741/cardi-b-talks-the-meaning-behind-her-invasion-of-privacy-album-name" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke about her mental health on SiriusXM</a>, comparing herself to "an animal in the zoo" and saying that making music at the beginning was fun and she wanted to be in the studio all the time.</p>
<p>"Now, I get anxiety when I go to the studio because everybody is like expecting some crazy magic from me," she said.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/cardi-b-offset-suggested-marriage-therapy-before-breakup-she-refused-2019-2" >Cardi B says Offset 'suggested' marriage counseling before they broke up, but she refused</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/cardi-b-postpartum-depression-mental-health-2019-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/what-the-game-of-thrones-season-8-teaser-really-means-2019-1">What the "Game of Thrones" season 8 teaser really means</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/selena-gomez-julia-michaels-song-anxiety-2019-1Selena Gomez opens up about her anxiety and past relationships in a new duet with Julia Michaelshttps://www.thisisinsider.com/selena-gomez-julia-michaels-song-anxiety-2019-1
Fri, 25 Jan 2019 11:03:25 -0500Jon Blistein
<p><img src="https://static2.thisisinsider.com/image/5c4b266b5241473bd1138c14-2400/gettyimages-876436198.jpg" border="0" alt="julia michaels selena gomez" data-mce-source="Emma McIntyre/AMA2017/Getty Images for dcp" data-mce-caption="Julia Michaels and Selena Gomez pose backstage during the 2017 American Music Awards."></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li>
<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/category/julia-michaels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Julia Michaels</a> dropped her highly anticipated new EP "Inner Monologue, Pt. 1" on Friday, which includes a collaboration with <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/category/selena-gomez" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Selena Gomez</a>.</li>
<li>The duet is called "Anxiety" and features personal lyrics from both women about their experiences with <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/category/mental-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mental health</a> and past relationships.</li>
<li><span>"Feel like I'm always apologizing for feeling," they sing on the chorus, "And my exes all say that I'm hard to deal with / And I admit it."</span></li>
<li><span>"I was like, 'I think it'd be really awesome to have a song with two women on it that struggle with the same thing, that are talking about something other than two women fighting for a guy's attention,'" Michaels said on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span>Julia Michaels has released her new EP, "Inner Monologue, Pt. 1," a day before of its scheduled January 25th release. The new six-song collection marks Michaels' first release since her 2017 EP, "Nervous System," and boasts collaborations with <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/t/selena-gomez/" data-tag="selena-gomez">Selena Gomez</a> and Niall Horan.</span></p>
<p><span>Michaels debuted her collaboration with Gomez, "Anxiety," on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show. The track is centered around a plucky acoustic guitar part that settles into a slick pop groove. Both Michaels and Gomez offer endearingly frank verses about grappling with depression and social anxiety, though their lyrics are also tinged with a bit of self-deprecating humor: "Feel like I'm always apologizing for feeling," they sing, "Like I'm out of my mind when I'm doing just fine/And my exes all say that I'm hard to deal with/And I admit it, yeah."</span></p>
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<p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/BtBuE0Hg-6j/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">My sweet soul sister. Julia you have been a huge part of my life. You have taught me how to have courage when I have self doubt. This song is extremely close to my heart as I’ve experienced anxiety and know a lot of my friends do too. You’re never alone if you feel this way. The message is much needed and I really hope you guys like it!</a>
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<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-01-24T18:10:50+00:00">Jan 24, 2019 at 10:10am PST</time></p>
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<p><span>Michaels <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/post/sa.cbfd1670-2004-11e9-8339-fe7bc729e79f" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">discussed the song</a> with Lowe as well, and explained why she wanted Gomez to join her on it. "I was like, 'I think it'd be really awesome to have a song with two women on it that struggle with the same thing, that are talking about something other than two women fighting for a guy's attention,'" Michaels said. "Or something like that. It's almost like a female empowerment song without it being a female empowerment song."</span></p>
<p><span>Michaels is set to embark on a North American tour this spring that will include a mix of solo headlining dates and shows supporting Pink. The trek kicks off March 1st with a concert alongside Pink in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, while Michaels' first solo show is March 4th in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.</span></p>
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<p><em>Visit<span> </span></em><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/"><em>INSIDER's homepage</em></a><em><span> </span>for more.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/selena-gomez-returns-to-social-media-with-an-uplifting-post-2019-1" >Selena Gomez returned to social media with an uplifting post that thanks her fans for their 'love and support' and says she is proud of the person she is becoming</a></strong></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/selena-gomez-julia-michaels-song-anxiety-2019-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/mrs-maisel-long-shot-2019-1">How “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” filmed this long scene in one shot for Season 2</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/getting-over-fear-of-flying-2019-18 ways to combat your fear of flying, according to expertshttps://www.thisisinsider.com/getting-over-fear-of-flying-2019-1
Fri, 18 Jan 2019 17:50:47 -0500Taylor Tobin
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="https://static2.thisisinsider.com/image/5ab27fa18c00fd19008b45bf-1356/bridesmaids-plane.jpg" border="0" alt="bridesmaids plane" data-mce-source="Universal Pictures" data-mce-caption="Flying doesn't always have to be scary." /></span></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are lots of things that happen during flights that can be anxiety producing.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are things you can do to make the trip a little bit smoother if you still want to try flying.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">We talked to people who work on planes to get tips on making flights easier.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When it comes to phobias, aviophobia, or "fear of flying" counts among the most widely-held. The tight cabin quarters, unpredictable turbulence, and fluctuating temperatures can all contribute to an unpleasant environment, and if you're already prone to anxiety, these factors will only exacerbate the problem. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Luckily, plenty of options exist to help ease your flight-related fears and get you from Point A to Point B with your serenity intact. INSIDER asked nine medical professionals and flight specialists for their favorite flight medications and relaxation techniques, and here's what we learned.</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/surprising-secrets-about-flying-2018-7" >Surprising secrets about flying</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>FOLLOW US:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thisisinsider" >INSIDER is on Facebook</a></strong></p>
<h3>Be sure to test any medications at home before taking them aboard your flight.</h3>
<img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/57bda86b04732f1c008b52cd-400-300/be-sure-to-test-any-medications-at-home-before-taking-them-aboard-your-flight.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whether you choose to use an over-the-counter medication or a prescription pill to smooth out your flight anxiety, it's important to try the drug at home before relying on it while you're in the air. According to co-founder Dr. Polly Meyers of </span><a href="https://www.breakfreefromanxiety.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Break Free from Anxiety</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, "</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">people with genetic anxiety (which is most of us) are generally very sensitive. [Because of] this genetic variation, we can overreact or have a bad response to medications." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Also, a </span><a href="http://healthnews.uc.edu/news/?/153/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">University of Cincinnati report</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> indicated that high altitude can affect the potency of certain medications, citing an increase in red blood cells and a reduction in plasma proteins as the culprit. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For these reasons, you'll want to establish a strong baseline with your anti-anxiety medication before trying them out in flight. Obtaining your OTC or prescription medication a couple of weeks before your flight and beginning your regimen in advance will acclimate your body to the drugs and make their in-flight effects less unpredictable.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Xanax and Ativan are fast-acting prescription options for combating anxiety.</h3>
<img src="https://static4.thisisinsider.com/image/5c4237a952414702f7207822-400-300/xanax-and-ativan-are-fast-acting-prescription-options-for-combating-anxiety.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you're in the market for a prescription anti-anxiety medication to take on your travels, a version that works quickly and can sustain your level mood for the duration of a cross-country or international trip will likely be your best bet. Los Angeles-based psychiatrist and travel blogger Dr. Brian Cassmassi of </span><a href="https://ambitioustrekker.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Ambitious Trekker</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> particularly recommends two popular prescription meds for this purpose: Xanax and Ativan.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Physicians can prescribe medications as needed for flight anxiety. The most common class includes benzodiazepines like Xanax and Ativan, which are relatively fast-acting to relieve anxiety and stay in the body for several hours, which is the duration for most cross-country flights. Some people may feel a bit groggy after the flight with these medications. They can become addictive with frequent use, so caution is advised, and they should not be mixed with alcohol, as the effects are additive and can lead to over-sedation or decreased breathing," Cassmassi told INSIDER.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Melatonin can help you sleep on the flight and can also reduce jet lag when you arrive at your destination.</h3>
<img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5c4238205241475b624f2c35-400-300/melatonin-can-help-you-sleep-on-the-flight-and-can-also-reduce-jet-lag-when-you-arrive-at-your-destination.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Overnight flights can prove particularly stressful for the anxiety-prone, due to the potential for sleep disruption. In these circumstances, the use of melatonin, a natural supplement that can be purchased over-the-counter, may prove useful.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I recommend melatonin as a natural supplement to my patients with flight-related anxiety. Melatonin induces sleep and adjusts your circadian clock to help you function better when you reach your destination. I suggest taking melatonin a few days before your trip so that you're ready to sleep thirty minutes to an hour earlier than normal. It will decrease jet lag if taken close to your target bedtime at your destination, and there are no major side effects to worry about. Plus, your flight will be over before you know it!" advised Dr. Khalid Saeed of </span><a href="https://tampabayconciergedoctor.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tampa Bay Concierge Doctor</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/getting-over-fear-of-flying-2019-1#/#early-studies-indicate-that-magnesium-supplements-may-ease-anxiety-4">See the rest of the story at INSIDER</a> https://www.thisisinsider.com/foods-that-may-reduce-anxiety-2019-19 foods that could help with anxietyhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/foods-that-may-reduce-anxiety-2019-1
Tue, 15 Jan 2019 13:51:27 -0500Zoë Miller
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="https://static5.thisisinsider.com/image/5a847cbc433c0122008b48ff-800/lindt chocolates.jpg" border="0" alt="lindt chocolates" data-mce-source="Lionel Allorge/Wikimedia Commons" data-link="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boite_de_chocolats_Champs-Elysees_Lait_Lindt_-_13.jpg" /></span></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">40 million adults have anxiety disorders.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are certain vitamins and minerals that have science backed evidence of lowering anxiety.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some foods include chocolate, spinach, and turkey.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the US, anxiety disorders affect </span><a href="https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics"><span style="font-weight: 400;">40 million adults</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> 18 and older. One way to treat your symptoms can be by adjusting your diet. Certain vitamins and minerals, like vitamin B12 and magnesium, </span><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/supplements-for-anxiety"><span style="font-weight: 400;">have been scientifically proven to lower anxiety levels. </span></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are 10 types of food that could reduce anxiety. Of course, it's worth noting that food alone likely won't cure your anxiety, and if you're experiencing symptoms of an anxiety disorder, you should speak with your doctor or mental health professional.&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/answers-to-commonly-asked-questions-about-anxiety-2018-12" >Answers to commonly asked questions about anxiety</a></strong></p>
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<h3>Magnesium rich-foods, such as leafy greens and legumes, could lower anxiety.</h3>
<img src="https://static6.thisisinsider.com/image/5b0827bd5e48ec1d008b4592-400-300/magnesium-rich-foods-such-as-leafy-greens-and-legumes-could-lower-anxiety.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3198864/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">A study published in 2012</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the journal Neuropharmacology identified a correlation between low-magnesium diets and higher anxiety levels in mice. To get enough </span><a href="https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">magnesium</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in your diet, you can eat foods such as leafy greens, legumes (i.e., soybeans and peanuts), and whole grains. </span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Zinc, found in items like oysters and cashews, could reduce anxiety.</h3>
<img src="https://static2.thisisinsider.com/image/5b4e3f43585cb437008b460a-400-300/zinc-found-in-items-like-oysters-and-cashews-could-reduce-anxiety.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24130388"><span style="font-weight: 400;">a 2013 study</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> published in the Indian Journal of Pharmacology, researchers reported that zinc reduced anxiety-like behaviors in male rats. Additionally, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3738454/">small study</a> by the Pfeiffer Treatment Center found that Zinc therapy may play a role in reducing anxiety symptoms. </span></p>
<p><a href="https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Zinc</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is found naturally in foods like oysters, beef, and cashews. More research is needed to see what role &mdash; if any Zinc plays in reducing anxiety.&nbsp;</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Foods high in calcium, like dairy products, can lower cortisol levels.</h3>
<img src="https://static2.thisisinsider.com/image/5c1d263001c0ea51860f4556-400-300/foods-high-in-calcium-like-dairy-products-can-lower-cortisol-levels.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><a href="https://www.childrenscolorado.org/conditions-and-advice/parenting/parenting-articles/calming-foods/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Calcium</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has been known to reduce levels of cortisol, a stress hormone associated with anxiety. According to an article published in Nutrition Research and Practice in 2012, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3542443/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">researchers in Korea</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> found an association between low-calcium diets and depression in middle-aged women. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some </span><a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/calcium/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">good sources of this nutrient</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> include dairy products such as milk and cheese, as well as green leafy vegetables like kale and collard greens. </span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/foods-that-may-reduce-anxiety-2019-1#/#the-omega-3s-in-fatty-fish-can-reduce-the-cellular-inflammation-that-causes-anxiety-4">See the rest of the story at INSIDER</a> https://www.thisisinsider.com/hailey-baldwin-opens-up-about-anxiety-on-instagram-justin-bieber-responds-2019-1Hailey Baldwin opened up about her anxiety on Instagram, and her husband Justin Bieber and fellow celebrities showed their supporthttps://www.thisisinsider.com/hailey-baldwin-opens-up-about-anxiety-on-instagram-justin-bieber-responds-2019-1
Tue, 08 Jan 2019 05:17:00 -0500Lindsay Dodgson
<p><img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5b802ac03cccd12a008b45ab-1200/gettyimages-960713372.jpg" border="0" alt="Hailey Baldwin" data-mce-source="Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for dcp" data-mce-caption="Hailey Baldwin"></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><strong>Hailey Baldwin has opened up about her anxiety on her Instagram page.</strong></li>
<li><strong>She shared a long post which explains how she is human and often compares herself to other people.</strong></li>
<li><strong>She said she will try this year to be confident in herself and accept her flaws, and encouraged her fans to do the same. </strong></li>
<li><strong>Justin Bieber, her husband, replied: "This is beautiful hun."</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Hailey Baldwin has had a transformative couple of months on social media, <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/hailey-baldwin-marriage-changed-last-name-to-bieber-on-social-media-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">changing her name on Instagram at the end of 2018 to "haileybieber."</a></p>
<p>Now, she has kicked off 2019 with a post opening up about her mental health.</p>
<p>The 22-year-old model posted a photo of her smiling in a Coors Light jacket, with a long message in the caption about body positivity, her relationship to the internet, and her anxiety.</p>
<p>"Stepping into 2019 I want to be more open," Baldwin wrote in the post. "I want to be more open about the things I struggle with, and be able to be more vulnerable."</p>
<p>She said although her life may look amazing, she has struggles like many people, particularly with insecurity.</p>
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<p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/BsUDewZBFf_/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">stepping into 2019 I want to be more open, I want to be more open about the things I struggle with, and be able to be more vulnerable. I’m a 22 years old, and the truth is no matter how amazing life may look from the outside I struggle... I’m insecure, I’m fragile, I’m hurting, I have fears, I have doubts, I have anxiety, I get sad, I get angry. I have had more days than I can count where I’ve found myself scrolling through Instagram comparing myself, comparing my looks, feeling like I’m not good enough feeling like I lack so many things and really struggling to be confident in who I am because I constantly feel like I’m just not good enough. Every single day is a confidence battle for me. I’m not writing this for a pity party or for sympathy but just to simply say, I’m a human.. I’m a young woman, I’m learning who I am and, it’s REALLY FREAKING HARD. It’s hard finding who you are, but what’s even harder is being picked apart and compared to other women while trying to do that. There are days that I’m simply broken because of it. It would be incredible if other young girls and women could find it in themselves to lift each other up, to stop making other women who are struggling JUST LIKE THEM, feel incompetent and less than. We ALL have flaws, and that will never change. What I do know is, God made us individuals for a reason, with our own beauty, our own personalities, and our own story because there’s a specific plan and purpose for each and every human created and he makes no mistakes!! So this year I’m gonna do my very best to just be ME and be confident with who I am. Cause I am enough, and I’m loved, and you are enough and you’re loved.</a>
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<p style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#c9c8cd; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by Hailey Rhode Bieber (@haileybieber) on Jan 6, 2019 at 4:32pm PST on
<time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-01-07T00:32:49+00:00">Jan 6, 2019 at 4:32pm PST</time></p>
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<p>"I'm fragile, I'm hurting, I have fears, I have doubts, I have anxiety, I get sad, I get angry," she wrote.</p>
<p>"I have had more days than I can count where I've found myself scrolling through Instagram comparing myself, comparing my looks, feeling like I'm not good enough feeling like I lack so many things and really struggling to be confident in who I am because I constantly feel like I'm just not good enough."</p>
<p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/diagnosing-mental-health-celebrities-from-afar-damaging-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Diagnosing the mental health of celebrities like Kanye West and Amanda Bynes from afar is damaging and dangerous</a></em></p>
<p>Rather than writing the post for sympathy, Baldwin said she wanted to show that she is human, and how the process of learning who she is is really hard. She added that it would be "incredible" if other girls and women could find it in themselves to lift each other up, rather than put each other down.</p>
<p>"We ALL have flaws, and that will never change," she wrote. "What I do know is, God made us individuals for a reason, with our own beauty, our own personalities, and our own story because there's a specific plan and purpose for each and every human created and he makes no mistakes!!"</p>
<p>Baldwin vowed this year to do her best just to be her and find confidence in who she is, and she urged her fans to do the same.</p>
<p>"Cause I am enough, and I'm loved, and you are enough and you're loved," she wrote.</p>
<p>In response, Baldwin's husband Justin Bieber wrote "this is beautiful hun."</p>
<p>She also received <a href="https://www.etonline.com/hailey-baldwin-opens-up-about-feeling-insecure-im-fragile-im-hurting-116830" target="_blank" rel="noopener">messages of support from other celebrities</a> like Patrick Schwarzenegger who said "Great caption" with a heart emoji, and Millie Bobbie Brown who wrote "couldn't agree more! [heart emoji] you shouldn't compare your life to controlled content. everyone is human. sending my love and kisses to you x".</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-psychotherapist-shares-4-ways-you-can-channel-your-anxiety-into-something-positive-2017-8?r=US&IR=T" >A psychotherapist shares 4 ways you can channel your anxiety into something positive</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/justin-bieber-hailey-baldwin-a-relationship-timeline-2018-7" >Meet the Biebers: Here's a complete timeline of Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin's relationship and apparent marriage</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/hailey-baldwin-opens-up-about-anxiety-on-instagram-justin-bieber-responds-2019-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/explosives-engineer-critiques-10-famous-movie-explosion-scenes-2019-1">An Explosives engineer critiques 10 famous movie explosion scenes</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/silicon-valley-diabetes-startup-omada-now-tackling-depression-lantern-2019-1A Silicon Valley startup that pioneered a new way to fight diabetes is tackling depression after its CEO noticed a disturbing trendhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/silicon-valley-diabetes-startup-omada-now-tackling-depression-lantern-2019-1
Mon, 07 Jan 2019 14:00:00 -0500Erin Brodwin
<p><img src="https://static4.thisisinsider.com/image/5aa6b2da42e1cc5eb8206cad-1424/13682254574b2e8b4c5b5k.jpg" border="0" alt="woman hiking outside strong" data-mce-source="Flickr/Flying Kiwi Tours" data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flyingkiwitours/13682254574/in/photolist-mR48AW-er1f34-dVvPCz-dVvPLi-dVvQ48-dVvPJt-8rtvmd-8rqiLH-8rqnzX-8rd3Db-8rd7uW-7FyCs9-8rqq3T-8rtwf3-8rqmDX-7ckvry-dcxrM6-8rtv7S-8rttDh-8rqjeX-8rqjxc-8rtsoE-8rqkec-8rtvXj-8rtsMq-8rttmw-8rtuwu-6RKibR-dVvQ68-8rtpQA-8rtpnC-8rtpCJ-8rtp4Q-8rqiZt-8rtq69-8rd1RW-dUy7Yy-erWCEj-7FyCoo-er1Qva-bhnbBe-erSRaE-eqY3RM-erUanb-erWKZf-eqW6qk-er1Fje-erPxGA-er1zFg-dUyjy1" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li>Silicon Valley digital health startup <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/omada-health-adds-new-programs-for-type-2-diabetes-and-hypertension-self-management-1027266505">Omada</a> told Business Insider that it's expanding beyond treating obesity-related diseases like diabetes into <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-therapy-chatbot-app-depression-anxiety-woebot-2018-1">depression</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-have-anxiety-2017-6">anxiety</a>.</li>
<li>The move, which was officially announced on Monday, includes a partnership with the mental-health startup Lantern to offer customers cognitive behavioral therapy (<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-therapy-chatbot-app-depression-anxiety-woebot-2018-1">CBT</a>).</li>
<li>Omada has prominent backers, including Andreessen Horowitz and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-brief-omada-health-announces-fundraising-of-50-mln-2017-6">Cigna</a>, and rose to prominence as employers like Costco and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/medisafe-value-based-payments-2018-10">health plans</a> like Kaiser began offering its services to members.</li>
</ul>
<p>When Sean Duffy, the cofounder and CEO of a digital-health startup called Omada Health, took his first look at the results of his new diabetes-treatment program, he noticed a disturbing trend.</p>
<p>Many of the individuals weren't simply fighting diabetes or obesity. They were also battling psychological issues like depression and anxiety, and those conditions were making their obesity-related symptoms worse.</p>
<p>Duffy wondered if there was more Omada could do to help treat those psychological issues.</p>
<p>So roughly a year ago, he and his team began drafting plans for a program that would focus exclusively on depression and anxiety, while also giving existing customers access to a wider range of mental-health tools. Duffy officially announced the program, which includes a partnership with a mental-health startup called Lantern, on Monday.</p>
<p>"This is an area we&rsquo;ve been deeply interested in for years, and we're excited to finally make it happen," Duffy told Business Insider.</p>
<p>The push into mental health builds on Omada's existing program, which has shown impressive results. The <a href="https://www.omadahealth.com/">program</a> links customers online with a coach, a peer group, and a clinical team of dietitians, physicians, and psychologists. Omada customers <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2016/15_0357.htm">lose weight</a> and reduce their risk of stroke and heart disease. Not surprisingly, they say they feel better, too.</p>
<p>As part of the existing program, Omada's clinical team had already been addressing some of the psychological factors that can be tied to obesity-related diseases, such as directing people to pay attention to social cues related to eating and ensuring people forgive themselves when they slip up. The new offering targeting anxiety and depression goes much further.</p>
<p>Using software designed by Lantern &mdash; which ceased commercial operations in August after failing to come up with a successful go-to-market strategy &mdash; Omada will offer a type of therapy known as cognitive behavioral therapy, or <a href="https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Treatment/Psychotherapy">CBT</a>, to people with anxiety and depression. Widely considered a gold standard treatment for depression, CBT helps people modify how they respond to emotionally challenging situations.</p>
<h2>Taking what works in person and making it digital</h2>
<p><img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5c31028bdde8675b7638a30b-1186/65a38905-2f33-44df-b91e-eb119205362d.jpeg" border="0" alt="Omada Health CEO Sean Duffy" data-mce-source="Courtesy Omada Health" />Backed by big names like Andreessen Horowitz and Cigna, Omada rose to prominence as major employers like Costco and leading health plans like Kaiser Permanente began offering its services to members. Omada's <a href="https://www.omadahealth.com/">digital program</a> has enrolled 200,000 people so far, and the company says that employers and health plans <a href="http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/67/Supplement_1/45-LB">save money</a> and gain more productive members, while patients get healthier and gain the self-esteem and motivation to keep going.</p>
<p>The idea behind it is simple: take what works in an in-person setting and apply it digitally.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Another startup called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/keto-diet-may-reverse-diabetes-health-startup-claims-2018-5">Virta Health</a> takes a similar approach. Using a digital health intervention composed mainly of a coach and peer group, the company also helps patients reduce diabetes symptoms. Only where Omada is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/depression-and-diet-may-be-linked-2018-5">diet</a>-agnostic but generally recommends a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-diet-body-brain-healthiest-mediterranean-review-beginners-2018-5">Mediterranean-style eating plan</a> rich in vegetables and lean proteins, Virta encourages customers to adhere to a strict high-fat, low-carb <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/keto-diet-may-reverse-diabetes-health-startup-claims-2018-5">ketogenic diet</a>.</p>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/keto-diet-may-reverse-diabetes-health-startup-claims-2018-5">A new health startup boldly claims to reverse diabetes without drugs, and Silicon Valley's favorite diet is a big part of it</a></em></p>
<p>Both companies emphasize their focus on scientific research and peer-reviewed studies. And it was with that science-heavy bent &mdash; and a review of the data they'd been collecting during the sign-up and follow-up process &mdash; that the Omada team decided to expand into mental health.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"We knew based on intakes and follow-ups that we'd been helping with some of those symptoms, but not to the extent that we liked," Omada&rsquo;s vice president of medical affairs, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyn-bradner-jasik-md-67107b7/">Carolyn Bradner Jasik</a>, told Business Insider.</p>
<p><img src="https://static5.thisisinsider.com/image/5c31028bdde8675b7638a30c-889/064be41f-dbfe-4f21-a79e-9442579e4f6a.jpeg" border="0" alt="Omada Health" data-mce-source="Courtesy Omada Health" /></p>
<p>In fact, the crossover between obesity-related diseases and psychiatric conditions like anxiety and depression went even deeper than Duffy initially thought. Close to half of all adults with depression are obese, according to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db167.htm">data</a> from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And adults who&rsquo;ve been diagnosed with depression are more likely to be overweight than those who haven&rsquo;t.</p>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-diet-body-brain-healthiest-2017-7">There's even more evidence that one type of diet is the best for your body and brain</a></em></p>
<p>So with the new program, patients already enrolled in Omada to tackle diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol will have access to a broader and deeper set of mental health tools. At the same time, Omada will begin offering mental health services to people who may or may not also deal with obesity-related diseases.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"Our customers tell us they love working with one partner in more comprehensive ways, so it&rsquo;s a great match for customers and for the health plans we work with as well," Duffy said.</p>
<h2>'We start with science and insist on outcomes'</h2>
<p>Omada is using Lantern's model, which came out of partnerships with experts at Stanford, Penn State, and Washington University in St. Louis. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3837629/">Research</a> indicated it helped curb depression and anxiety symptoms while reducing disordered eating behavior. Specifically, Omada is licensing Lantern's CBT technology and bringing on several members of its staff to help support the new offering.</p>
<p>Several studies of CBT suggest the method lends itself well to a digital setting. For a <span>recent </span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4219070/">review of studies</a> <span>published in the journal World Psychiatry, researchers compared people who received CBT online with those who received it in person and concluded that the two settings were equally effective.</span></p>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-therapy-chatbot-app-depression-anxiety-woebot-2018-1">A Stanford researcher is pioneering a dramatic shift in how we treat depression &mdash; and you can try her new tool right now</a></em></p>
<p>Bradner Jasik, who spent more than a decade as a physician and clinical professor focused on obesity and disordered eating, said she couldn't wait to be able to offer Lantern's software to customers. One of her chief frustrations as a practicing doctor, she said, was not being able to treat patients for both weight management and depression because of issues with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/medisafe-value-based-payments-2018-10">healthcare plans</a> and reimbursement.</p>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/medisafe-value-based-payments-2018-10">Digital health startups are embracing value-based payments</a></em></p>
<p>"It&rsquo;s hard when you know what someone needs and there's an evidence-based treatment at your fingertips that you can&rsquo;t give to patients," Bradner Jasik said. "It doesn't feel good."</p>
<p>The new program, she hopes, will finally address that.</p>
<p>"We start with science and insist on outcomes," she said.</p><p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/silicon-valley-diabetes-startup-omada-now-tackling-depression-lantern-2019-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/mrs-maisel-long-shot-2019-1">How “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” filmed this long scene in one shot for Season 2</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/teenager-harvard-graduate-existential-depression-2019-1The teenager who will graduate from Harvard at 16 had a 'midlife crisis' in the fifth gradehttps://www.thisisinsider.com/teenager-harvard-graduate-existential-depression-2019-1
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 13:24:10 -0500Shana Lebowitz
<p><img src="https://static6.thisisinsider.com/image/5acceb8242e1cc5836524234-1100/shutterstock75904627.jpg" border="0" alt="sad kid" data-mce-source="ZouZou/Shutterstock" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><strong>Braxton Moral, 16, will graduate from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/harvard">Harvard</a> in May.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Like many other gifted teenagers, Moral experienced existential depression when he was younger.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Experts say that's because gifted young people tend to be more thoughtful, reflective, and intense.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Braxton Moral is 16 years old and is graduating from high school &mdash; and from Harvard &mdash; in May.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/29/us/braxton-moral-harvard.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Feducation">The New York Times</a> reports that Moral has been studying at Harvard's extension school, taking most of his classes online, since he was in middle school. According to Mihir Zaveri at The Times, Braxton hopes to attend Harvard Law School and maybe even run for president eventually.</p>
<p>But, as is the case with many gifted kids and teenagers, Moral's success and ambition may have a dark side. Moral's mother, Julie Moral, told Zaveri that while Moral was in elementary school, the Duke University Talent Identification Program got in touch with them.</p>
<p>"They said he was having existential depression," Julie Moral told The Times. "It's where you're like, 'What's my purpose? Is there a God?' It's something that most people have &mdash; a midlife crisis. He had it like, in fifth grade."</p>
<p>The program said Moral needed stimulation, which is how he ultimately wound up at the Harvard Extension School.</p>
<h2>'Existential depression' is more common among gifted young people</h2>
<p>Experts say "existential depression" &mdash; when you confront issues like death and meaninglessness &mdash; is more common among intellectually gifted young people. On the <a href="http://www.davidsongifted.org/Search-Database/entry/A10269">Davidson Institute for Talent Development website</a>, the late psychologist James Webb presents a few potential reasons why.</p>
<p>For example, gifted kids and teens are more inclined toward deep thought and reflection. They also tend to be "intense," and feel disappointed and frustrated when things aren't ideal. Webb writes that gifted young people may also contemplate questions like, "Why do people engage in hypocritical behaviors in which they say one thing and then do another?" and "How much difference in the world can one person's life make?"</p>
<p>What's more, other people may not necessarily relate to their concerns.</p>
<p>In some ways, this predisposition toward existential anxiety may serve them well. On <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/youth-and-tell/201112/exploring-the-duality-the-gifted-teen">Psychology Today</a>, psychotherapist Elizabeth Donovan writes that "the ability for smart teens to embrace deep existential questions and attempt to formulate answers may just put them one step ahead as they enter adulthood."</p>
<p><em><strong>Read more</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-parents-set-their-kids-up-for-success-2015-11">Science says parents of successful kids have these 11 things in common</a></em></p>
<p>But Webb writes that those who care for kids or teens in the throes of existential depression should help the young people "feel that they are understood and not so alone," for example by talking about a time when they had a similar experience.</p>
<p>As for Moral, he told The Times that he tries not to be consumed by his own intellect. "I'm a really ambitious person," he told The Times. "I think it's important to have goals and achieve those goals, and it's important to be charismatic and likable. You want to be relatable."</p><p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/teenager-harvard-graduate-existential-depression-2019-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/mrs-maisel-long-shot-2019-1">How “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” filmed this long scene in one shot for Season 2</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/jetsuitex-chartered-airline-review-photos-2018-12I flew home for the holidays on a little-known airline with zero wait time that feels like a chartered jet, and I'm never flying 'normally' againhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/jetsuitex-chartered-airline-review-photos-2018-12
Thu, 20 Dec 2018 14:44:18 -0500Erin Brodwin
<p><img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5c1bf2cfbde70f43117f6c7f-1800/img4707.jpg" border="0" alt="jetsuitex IMG_4707.JPG" data-mce-source="Erin Brodwin / Business Insider" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li>I flew home for the holidays, from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, on a boutique but affordable airline called <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/jetsuitex-continues-its-ascent-with-more-routes-flights-and-enhanced-jetblue-codeshare-partnership-1027574529">JetSuiteX</a>.</li>
<li>There was no wait, minimal security, and a cozy lounge offering free drinks, snacks, and WiFi &mdash; perks that helped soothe the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-have-anxiety-2017-6">anxiety</a> I normally have before a flight.</li>
<li>Here's how the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/qatar-airways-and-jetsuite-reaffirm-commitment-to-jetsuite-and-jetsuitex-expansion-at-farnborough-international-airshow-2018-1027380021">private company</a> manages to <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/jetsuitex-three-day-flash-sale-takes-off-between-reno-and-oakland-1027311560">charge less</a> for a superior flying experience.</li>
</ul>
<p>It was around the time my cab driver asked whether I'd given him the right address that I realized I was either about to have a unique flight experience or end up completely lost. A few minutes later, as we pulled up to what looked like a small hotel, I saw the sign that should have reassured me.</p>
<p>There, on a small white banner perched atop two stakes in the ground, was the name "JetSuiteX."</p>
<p>This was how my experience with a boutique but affordable airline began.</p>
<p>My trip from the Bay Area to Los Angeles on a chartered semiprivate plane with JetSuiteX cost a fraction of a traditional flight and convinced me I'd never suffer through a giant airport for the journey again. There was no wait, minimal security protocols, and a comfortable lounge with free snacks, drinks, and WiFi.</p>
<p>There was, however, one drawback, which I'll describe later.</p>
<p>Here's how JetSuiteX manages to charge less for a superior flying experience.</p><h3>With no ticket and no boarding pass for my flight to Burbank, California, on the chartered semiprivate airline JetSuiteX, I wondered whether I'd made a huge mistake.</h3>
<img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5c1bf2cebde70f43117f6c74-400-300/with-no-ticket-and-no-boarding-pass-for-my-flight-to-burbank-california-on-the-chartered-semiprivate-airline-jetsuitex-i-wondered-whether-id-made-a-huge-mistake.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>But as I pulled my luggage out of the car, I spotted another sign emblazoned with "JetSuiteX," and what looked like a few other customers &mdash; mostly people with small dogs &mdash; scattered around the tiny entrance.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>When I walked into the terminal — a few minutes' drive from the Oakland International Airport — a JetSuiteX rug helped assure me that I was in the right place.</h3>
<img src="https://static5.thisisinsider.com/image/5c1bf2cebde70f43117f6c75-400-300/when-i-walked-into-the-terminal--a-few-minutes-drive-from-the-oakland-international-airport--a-jetsuitex-rug-helped-assure-me-that-i-was-in-the-right-place.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>As someone who deals with a fair amount of preflight anxiety, I hoped my JetSuiteX experience would be different.</p>
<p>Some of my normal triggers &mdash; the things that tip me from antsy to on-edge &mdash; include large crowds, long wait times, and invasive security checks. JetSuiteX claimed to have none of that.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>There was no wait for my flight. A cheery customer-service agent greeted me and asked for an ID. She used that to print my boarding pass.</h3>
<img src="https://static6.thisisinsider.com/image/5c1bf2cebde70f43117f6c76-400-300/there-was-no-wait-for-my-flight-a-cheery-customer-service-agent-greeted-me-and-asked-for-an-id-she-used-that-to-print-my-boarding-pass.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>She then swabbed my hands and luggage with cloth designed to check for traces of explosives &mdash; part of the standard protocol for Transportation Security Administration agents at major airports.</p>
<p>Only there were no TSA agents, and that was the only security I'd encounter.</p>
<p>JetSuiteX <a href="https://www.jetsuitex.com/faqs">says on its website</a> that its security measures "exceed" the TSA's requirements.</p>
<p>"Every customer is matched against the TSA watchlist like any other commercial airline," it says, adding that regulators for the TSA, Federal Aviation Administration, and Department of Transportation "have approved all JetSuiteX security measures."</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/jetsuitex-chartered-airline-review-photos-2018-12#/#once-i-was-checked-in-and-ready-for-my-flight-i-was-invited-to-wait-in-jetsuitexs-lounge-area-it-looked-more-like-a-cozy-coffee-shop-than-an-airport-waiting-room-4">See the rest of the story at INSIDER</a> https://www.thisisinsider.com/answers-to-commonly-asked-questions-about-anxiety-2018-1210 answers to common questions about dealing with anxietyhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/answers-to-commonly-asked-questions-about-anxiety-2018-12
Fri, 14 Dec 2018 10:59:01 -0500Sara Lindberg
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5c05981f5930f835ee303d06-2400/istock-938982802.jpg" border="0" alt="anxiety sad phone texting" data-mce-source="iStock" /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anxiety is the body's emotional and physiological response to environmental triggers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anxiety isn't always a bad thing, but in some cases, it could make day-to-day life more difficult.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are a lot of ways to deal with anxiety ranging from prescriptions to meditation.&nbsp;</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">nxiety can manifest itself in many different ways and it can impact people with varying levels of severity. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, in the United States alone, over </span><a href="https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics"><span style="font-weight: 400;">40 million adults</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> live with an anxiety disorder. Even though it can be fairly common, there are still a lot of questions and misconceptions surrounding anxiety.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Here are the answers to 10 of the most common questions about anxiety.&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/celebrities-who-talked-about-anxiety-2018-9" >17 celebrities who have shared their experiences with anxiety</a></strong></p>
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<h3>What is anxiety?</h3>
<img src="https://static4.thisisinsider.com/image/5be485c448eb12437a574042-400-300/what-is-anxiety.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Anxiety is the body's emotional and physiological response to triggers in the environment," </span><a href="https://www.mountsinai.org/profiles/lindsay-e-gerber"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lindsay E. Gerber</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, PsyD, licensed clinical psychologist at The Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center told INSIDER. Triggers can be verbal, visual, physical, auditory, or olfactory (smell). It's these triggers that cause anxious distress. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These anxious thoughts, which are often referred to as negative automatic thoughts, incite emotional and physiological distress like a faulty alarm system. For example, Gerber said turbulence on an airplane (a physical trigger) can activate anxious thoughts such as "the plane is going to crash" or "we're all going to die."&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"When experiencing anxiety, our brain sends a message to our body that we are in immense danger when in reality, we are physically safe," she said. As we know, turbulence is quite normal and does not indicate that there is something wrong with the plane. However, Gerber said our anxiety sends us into flight or fight mode and physically ramps up our body.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span> <span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>How do I know if I am experiencing anxiety?</h3>
<img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5b8869663cccd126008b45c7-400-300/how-do-i-know-if-i-am-experiencing-anxiety.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gerber said some of the more common symptoms of anxiety include increased heart rate, palpitations, sweating, dizziness, headaches, upset stomach, shortness of breath, and difficulty concentrating.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>What happens in your body when you experience anxiety?</h3>
<img src="https://static2.thisisinsider.com/image/5298cffbecad047864dbb37a-400-300/what-happens-in-your-body-when-you-experience-anxiety.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Knowing what happens in your body is the key to understanding the symptoms you experience when dealing with anxiety. </span><a href="https://serincenter.com"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dr. Amy Serin</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, a neuropsychologist at the Serin Center, told INSIDER that your brain operates in either stress mode or calm mode and can turn stress and anxiety on like a switch, whether you're aware of it or not. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"When you're anxious, all functions that aren't needed for in-the-moment survival start to shut down, this is why anxious test takers can't remember answers during the exam and then they come flooding in once the test is over and they start to calm down," she explained. "Memory shuts down, higher order thinking, planning, organizing, and even digestion doesn't work when people are in a state of anxiety."</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/answers-to-commonly-asked-questions-about-anxiety-2018-12#/#is-anxiety-always-a-bad-thing-4">See the rest of the story at INSIDER</a> https://www.thisisinsider.com/mental-health-discoveries-2018-1210 of the most important things we learned about mental health this yearhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/mental-health-discoveries-2018-12
Mon, 10 Dec 2018 16:55:48 -0500Kelsey Abkin
<p><img src="https://static6.thisisinsider.com/image/5c0ecbd1991c57014f687212-901/shutterstock1204439623.jpg" border="0" alt="therapy" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><strong>In 2018, researchers around the world worked tirelessly to combat a range of mental health issues.&nbsp;</strong></li>
<li><strong>Scientists found more effective treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and further delved into the relationship between sleep and depression.&nbsp;</strong></li>
<li><strong>Previously under-researched drugs such as ketamine, marijuana, and ecstasy became the main focus for many researchers when seeking potential treatments for anxiety and depression, among other mental health concerns. &nbsp;</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><span>Approximately one in five adults in the US &mdash; 43.8 million &mdash; <a href="https://www.nami.org/learn-more/mental-health-by-the-numbers">experiences mental illness</a> in a given year, according to The National Alliance on Mental Illness. That being said, it's no surprise that each and every year researchers put time and enormous amounts of money into tackling the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-mental-health-crisis-could-cost-the-world-16-trillion-by-2030-2018-10">growing mental health crisis.</a>&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>It seems in 2018, much of their hard work paid off &mdash; around the world researchers crumbled myths and opened new doors as they aimed to better comprehend the complicated world of invisible illnesses.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>Here are 10 of the most important things we learned about mental health in 2018.&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/dont-say-these-things-someone-with-mental-health-issue-2018-6" >13 things you shouldn't say to someone who is struggling with their mental health</a></strong></p>
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<h3>Scientists discovered "master keys" that could help better them to understand schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder.</h3>
<img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5be9fe3b48eb12376c69e302-400-300/scientists-discovered-master-keys-that-could-help-better-them-to-understand-schizophrenia-and-autism-spectrum-disorder.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p id="first">In 2018, <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181105122540.htm">researchers at Emory and the Chinese Academy of Sciences</a> aimed to better understand complex brain disorders such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To do so, the researchers identified a few "master keys," risk genes important for brain function and then created mice partially lacking one of those master keys, called MIR-137.</p>
<p>They found that the mice lacking MIR-137, a gene that&nbsp;regulates hundreds of other genes, displayed learning and memory deficits, repetitive behaviors and impaired sociability.</p>
<p>But when treated with papaverine, a vasodilator and Pde10a inhibitor, these scientists could improve the mice's performance on social tests and maze navigation.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The research is especially as important as it has previously been found that people with too much MIR-137 exhibit symptoms of schizophrenia while those with too little exhibit symptoms of autism.&nbsp;</p>
<div id="text">
<p>"It's interesting to think about in the context of precision medicine," said <span>senior author Peng Jin, Ph.D., professor of human genetics at Emory University School of Medicine</span>. "Individuals with a partial loss of MIR137 &mdash; either genomic deletions or reduced expression&mdash; could potentially be candidates for treatment with Pde10a inhibitors."</p>
</div></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Written exposure therapy was found to help some patients with PTSD.</h3>
<img src="https://static4.thisisinsider.com/image/5babaa62de9f30043722b002-400-300/written-exposure-therapy-was-found-to-help-some-patients-with-ptsd.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml">Post</a><span><a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml">-traumatic stress disorder</a> (PTSD) is "a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event." The condition <a href="https://www.sidran.org/resources/for-survivors-and-loved-ones/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-fact-sheet/">affects 5% of Americans</a> at any given time and can be debilitating &mdash; causing people to disconnect from their lives and have extreme emotional or physical reactions.</span></p>
<p><a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2669771">Research</a> supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) aimed to find a more efficient way to treat PTSD, as current treatments require extensive training for therapists and burdensome work for patients. Their solution was written exposure therapy (WET), a treatment including five sessions during which patients write about their specific traumatic event.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The researchers found that treating PTSD patients using WET was as successful as treating them with cognitive processing therapy (CPT), a widely accepted treatment consisting of 12 weekly therapy sessions.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The research was important as it made clear that PTSD can be effectively treated with a five-session psychotherapy.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Researchers may have found a better way to prevent suicide.</h3>
<img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5babab54821ecf044c7a4592-400-300/researchers-may-have-found-a-better-way-to-prevent-suicide.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span>Suicide accounted for nearly&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml" title="Suicide">45,000 deaths in the United States in 2016</a><span>. In an attempt to address the issue, researchers looked at ways of using electronic health records to predict suicide attempts and deaths by suicide.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>Researchers used the fact that half of the people who die by suicide, and two-thirds of people who attempt suicide, received a mental health diagnosis or treatment in the previous year, to track individuals who might be at risk of suicide.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>Dr. Gregory Simon, M.P.H., a senior investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, and colleagues used data from electronic health records (EHRs) provided by seven major health systems to create a model that could determine at-risk people.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29792051">The researchers</a> found that using variables such as mental health diagnoses, substance use diagnoses, use of mental health emergency and inpatient care, history of self-harm, and scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire, they were successfully able to predict who is at risk for suicide attempt and death.</span></p>
<p><span>"By leveraging existing electronic health record data and advancements in statistical modeling, it is possible to significantly improve the prediction of death by suicide and suicide attempts over conventional self-report methods," <a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2018/predicting-suicide-attempts-and-suicide-deaths-using-electronic-health-records.shtml">said Michael Freed, Ph.D., chief of the Services Research and Clinical Epidemiology Branch in the NIMH Division of Services and Intervention Research.</a></span></p>
<p><span>"Valid and reliable suicide risk prediction models hold tremendous promise to reduce death by suicide, especially when integrated with evidence-supported approaches to suicide prevention."</span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/mental-health-discoveries-2018-12#/#researchers-discovered-a-strong-association-between-depressive-symptoms-and-poor-sleep-quality-4">See the rest of the story at INSIDER</a> https://www.thisisinsider.com/should-i-take-medication-for-anxiety-2018-11Why going on anti-anxiety medication is the best decision I have ever madehttps://www.thisisinsider.com/should-i-take-medication-for-anxiety-2018-11
Tue, 27 Nov 2018 16:23:49 -0500Sarah Fielding
<p><img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5be4451448eb1217d16a2723-2400/istock-470012820.jpg" border="0" alt="panic" data-mce-source="golubovy/ iStock" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">I've struggled with anxiety and panic attacks my whole life.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It wasn't until I was 20 years old that a psychiatrist diagnosed me with a panic disorder.</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">I've been on anti-anxiety medicine for almost two years and it has allowed me to take control of my life back.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In Gloria Steinem's book "My Life On The Road" there's a chapter in which she talks about how everyone has before and after moments in their life. They're an event or instance that you come to define your life by before and after they occurred. For her, it was being a part of the Women's Conference. For me, it was the day </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/what-its-like-have-anxiety-2017-6"><span style="font-weight: 400;">I was diagnosed with a panic disorder</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and started my anti-anxiety medicine. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This was the day I finally took control of my life, the day I finally understood who I am and why I feel the way I do. This is the story of how I got to that point and why </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/depression-myths-misconceptions-antidepressants-2017-4"><span style="font-weight: 400;">going on anti-anxiety medicine</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has made every day after feel like a new life. </span></p>
<h2><strong>What it was like growing up with an undiagnosed panic disorder.</strong></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I'm in tenth grade, it's around midnight on a Saturday and my friend has </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/science-tricks-fall-asleep-faster-sleep-better-2017-4"><span style="font-weight: 400;">fallen fast asleep</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, breathing deeply. Then there's me, laying across a mattress on the floor, wide awake, heart beating so fast I can't believe the sound of it hasn't woken her up. I can barely breathe and it's as if a dark blanket has wrapped itself around my brain, enveloping it with the worst thoughts it could fathom. I have no idea what is happening, my only thought is that I must be dying.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5be445ae48eb12323c521e32-2400/istock-896820002.jpg" border="0" alt="in bed" data-mce-source="millann/ iStock" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It wouldn't be for seven more years until I would come to learn that what I had experienced that night, and many other times in my life was a </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/how-to-overcome-a-panic-attack-according-to-a-psychologist-2018-8"><span style="font-weight: 400;">panic attack</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It came to a head the summer after spending my junior year of college </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/most-affordable-countries-living-abroad-expats-2017-9"><span style="font-weight: 400;">living abroad</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. I was staying with family on the west coast and I could feel </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/things-that-make-anxiety-worse-2018-8"><span style="font-weight: 400;">my anxiety had been getting worse</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. It was becoming increasingly harder to eat, something I had previously experienced when my </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/how-stress-and-anxiety-impact-your-skin-2017-12"><span style="font-weight: 400;">anxiety flared up</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. My throat closed up and, no matter how hungry I was, refused to open back up and swallow anything. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At the same time, I had begun to seriously </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/what-reverse-culture-shock-is-and-how-to-deal-2018-7"><span style="font-weight: 400;">experience dissociation</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Psychiatry.org defines dissociation as "</span><a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/dissociative-disorders/what-are-dissociative-disorders"><span style="font-weight: 400;">a disconnection between a person's thoughts</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, memories, feelings, actions or sense of who he or she is." I felt as if nothing was real, I was simply floating around, unable to feel grounded in one place. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One night I made the </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/siri-alexa-google-assistant-which-is-smarter-2018-3"><span style="font-weight: 400;">mistake of looking up how I was feeling</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, finding chat rooms filled with people describing their symptoms. That triggered me and I ended up having the worst panic attack I'd ever had. Again, still at the point in my life where I didn't understand </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/emma-stone-opens-up-about-anxiety-2016-12"><span style="font-weight: 400;">what a panic attack was</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. All I knew was that it felt as if my body was going to die, a feeling that lasted for almost three hours until my mind mercifully fell asleep.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5bb4b86e01145513a65c8692-2400/shutterstock1193654149.jpg" border="0" alt="typing computer laptop" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I woke up in the morning knowing I couldn't continue to live this way. Going home a few days later, I wanted to tell my family how I was feeling. Yet, once home, every time I tried I couldn't seem to form the words. Terrified of my mind and what I was feeling, I didn't want them to worry. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>I kept putting off dealing with it until eventually, it was time to go back to school</strong></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thankfully my university offered </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/affordable-therapist-alternatives-2017-12"><span style="font-weight: 400;">free counseling</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to full-time students and I called the first day to make an appointment. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Two weeks later, I was sitting across from a stranger in a small room with the heater turned up much too high for a mid-September day. I didn't know where to start but when I finally did it felt impossible to stop. I told her everything from struggling to eat to the </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/how-get-rid-negative-thoughts-psychologist-depression-2016-11"><span style="font-weight: 400;">negative thoughts</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to the ever more common instances where my heart raced so hard I couldn't breathe.<br /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="https://static5.thisisinsider.com/image/5aa6c6d7a4af78e8008b4667-889/therapy.jpg" border="0" alt="therapy" data-mce-source="loreanto/Shutterstock" data-link="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/psychotherapy-session-woman-talking-his-psychologist-679639567" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I finally finished, I already felt just a little lighter, knowing someone, anyone else, knew how I was feeling. She generally went over what I had told her and then said, "I recommend you go on medicine." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I had </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/thai-cave-boys-given-anti-anxiety-drugs-during-rescue-operation-2018-7"><span style="font-weight: 400;">taken anti-anxiety medicine</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> one time before, during my senior year of high school. I was </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/signs-your-old-relationships-are-affecting-your-current-one-2018-6"><span style="font-weight: 400;">in a bad relationship</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and overwhelmed by a variety of factors. It had become almost impossible to eat and I was </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/losing-weight-too-quickly-effects-scary-2018-5"><span style="font-weight: 400;">losing too much weight</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. I stayed on it for seven months, going off it around the time I started college. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I knew I needed it again and was relieved she thought so too. Unfortunately, the soonest I could see the school psychiatrist was a month from then. While I was able to see the therapist weekly, that month felt excruciatingly long as I struggled to control my mind. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, it was October 16, 2016, the day of my psychiatry appointment. I sat down across from another stranger, unaware that in the next 30 minutes she would change my life forever. </span></p>
<h2><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>After giving her the same rundown as the psychologist, she said the sentence that would finally clarify 20 years of anxiety, panic and distress: "Sarah, you have a panic disorder"</strong> </span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In that moment, finally being given a term, a clarification, a name to how I felt, it was as if everything crystallized and I was going to be okay. It's amazing how just through knowing what's wrong, things can feel that much easier to deal with.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She then went on to draw a diagram explaining </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/what-its-like-have-anxiety-2017-6"><span style="font-weight: 400;">what my panic disorder wa</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">s composed of. Tying together anxiety, panic, OCD, in the sense that I obsess over when my anxiety will next manifest, and low grade depressive episodes, I finally had in front of me a description of what I'd been feeling all along. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She agreed that medicine, combined with </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/stanford-therapy-chatbot-app-depression-anxiety-woebot-2018-1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">regular therapy</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, meditation and a variety of other coping methods, was the way to go. Since I had a good experience with Lexapro in high school, she wrote me a prescription to take 10 mg a day.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="https://static5.thisisinsider.com/image/550c33a569bedda9518b456b-913/perscription.jpg" border="0" alt="perscription" data-mce-source="Flickr/The Javorac" /></span></p>
<h2><strong>I walked out a completely different person than I had been just 30 minutes before&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the almost two years since that appointment, I've had ups and downs </span><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/normal-worry-versus-anxiety-2018-3"><span style="font-weight: 400;">managing my panic disorder</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. I've had panic attacks and days where my anxiety feels overwhelming. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But I've also been able to make the low grade depressive episodes all but go away. I moved to the other side of the world by myself and started dating again. My panic disorder will always be a part of my life but knowing that there's a little extra push from medicine helping me to fight it &mdash; well &mdash; makes me feel like I actually can. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The way I think about it is, if I broke my leg I'd wear a cast. Anti-anxiety medicine is a bandage of sorts that gives me the foundation I need to heal. Getting help when you need it can be hard and leave you feeling vulnerable, but should never be avoided due to fear of stigma or judgment. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I will probably take anti-anxiety for the rest of my life and, you know what, I'm OK with that. Two years into the after I can't believe I didn't go on it before. </span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Visit </span></em><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">INSIDER's homepage</span></em></a><em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> for more.</span></em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/how-to-overcome-a-panic-attack-according-to-a-psychologist-2018-8" >How to overcome a panic attack, according to a psychologist</a></strong></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/should-i-take-medication-for-anxiety-2018-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/a-doctor-is-using-fish-skin-to-help-heal-animals-burned-in-wildfires-2019-1">A doctor is using fish skin to help heal animals burned in wildfires</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/writing-in-journal-morning-helps-anxiety-focus-on-work-2018-11Productivity hacks never helped me, but a morning habit I've had for 14 years allows me to stay focused on workhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/writing-in-journal-morning-helps-anxiety-focus-on-work-2018-11
Tue, 13 Nov 2018 10:25:00 -0500Jamie Friedlander
<p><img src="https://static2.thisisinsider.com/image/5beaf3d2bde70f6e9c37b749-2400/writing writer freelance journal planning pen paper.jpg" border="0" alt="writing writer freelance journal planning pen paper" data-mce-source="1dayreview.com/Flickr/CC BY 2.0" data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/159770474@N08/43728784241/" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><strong>Writing in a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/journal">journal</a> can be a therapeutic activity to start your day off with.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Here, author Jamie Friedlander shares how keeping a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/journal">journal</a> in the morning has helped quell her <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/anxiety">anxiety</a> and allowed her to focus on work.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I&rsquo;m self-employed as a </span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/bi-freelancer"><span style="font-weight: 400;">freelance writer</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which means I spend roughly 40 hours per week at home, in loungewear, typing away on my laptop. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The internet is overflowing with productivity advice for people who work from home. </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Always get dressed as if you&rsquo;re going to work so you feel more confident</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, they say. </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Avoid distractions like friends stopping by, </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">some advise.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I don&rsquo;t abide by these two rules, or many other prescriptive pieces of advice people often share for the work-from-home crowd. I have my own morning task that sets me up for the perfect day, and it&rsquo;s never included on these lists. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I write. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I am a writer, so this might sound obvious. But I don&rsquo;t write articles for work on my laptop. Instead, I handwrite for pleasure in my journal. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I&rsquo;m 28 years old and am currently on my nineteenth journal. I began journaling when I was 14, and the habit never subsided. I began writing as a way to document my life. But the older I got, the more my journal turned into my confidante and my way of dissecting my emotions and exploring why I was feeling a certain way.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I have generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), which means my mind is often overflowing with tiny, insignificant things that disproportionately worry me. Long ago, I discovered writing about these little things often helped me see that they were irrational, and in turn, my anxiety would dissipate. Doing this first thing in the morning helps me set aside the anxious thoughts that occupy my mind so I can focus on the work at hand.</span></p>
<h2><strong>Countering &ldquo;what ifs&rdquo;</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Several months ago, I had a big interview lined up &mdash; one of the largest of my career. I would be speaking on the phone with Dr. Oz for one hour to write a profile on him for Success Magazine. I had interviewed other celebrities in the past, but no one this well known. My impostor syndrome kicked in, and I spent the days leading up to the interview riddled with self-doubt and fear. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On the morning of our call, I wrote about my fears in my journal.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">I explored every &ldquo;what if&rdquo; that was making me anxious, and then wrote about a rational reason why none of them wouldn&rsquo;t happen. </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">What if I ask a stupid question? </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">That won&rsquo;t happen because you&rsquo;ve prepared immensely, and you specialize in health journalism, I told myself. </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">What if I stutter or my voice falters? </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">That won&rsquo;t happen, because the minute you start an interview, you transform into a person of confidence and conviction, I reminded myself.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-tell-if-you-are-confident-or-not-2018-4">A psychologist says this is the one simple way to tell if you're insecure or self-confident</a></em></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spending just 20 minutes writing about everything that was making me anxious set me up for the perfect interview. None of my &ldquo;what ifs&rdquo; happened, and I was able to put my anxiety aside for the call. </span></p>
<h2><strong>Looking inward on personal issues</strong></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This morning routine extends beyond my professional fears. In fact, 90% of what I write about each morning is personal. Part of GAD is overthinking anything and everything, and writing about these things often helps me see that I am, in fact, overthinking them. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Due to a shoulder injury that left me unable to exercise for most of the summer, I dwelled incessantly over the fact that I had lost some of the muscle tone I achieved from doing barre each day, and had in turn gained a few pounds. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My husband reminded me that just a few pounds on my 5-foot-7-inch frame wasn&rsquo;t at all noticeable, and that I&rsquo;d be back to my normal self in no time. But my fears still consumed me, and I couldn&rsquo;t let them go. Despite my husband&rsquo;s kind attempts to assuage my worries, I still felt anxious about my body image. Only writing about these fears helped. </span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Will people think differently of me if I gained four pounds?</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> I wrote. The answer was, obviously, no. </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Did I look that much different?</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> No &mdash; the worry was irrational. </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Does my husband, the person who matters the most, still think I&rsquo;m beautiful? </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yes, and he reminds me of that fact every day. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By looking inward at my problems through writing, I&rsquo;m often able to see when I&rsquo;m obsessing or catastrophizing. And doing this in the morning &mdash; not at night &mdash; helps me get these worries out of my head <em>before </em>my day begins, so I can focus on my work with a clear mind. </span></p><p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/writing-in-journal-morning-helps-anxiety-focus-on-work-2018-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/we-tried-the-thickest-dribbliest-hot-chocolate-in-london-2018-11">We tried the thickest, messiest hot chocolate in London — here's what we thought</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/social-media-link-depression-loneliness-2018-11There's even more evidence that social media increases depression and lonelinesshttps://www.thisisinsider.com/social-media-link-depression-loneliness-2018-11
Mon, 12 Nov 2018 06:58:00 -0500Lindsay Dodgson
<p><img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5be9531048eb121cd5366ac2-1778/social media depression.jpg" border="0" alt="social media depression" data-mce-source="eldar nurkovic / Shutterstock" data-link="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sad-depressive-woman-train-going-home-796805782?src=hJYzRR71BCbDp0ag52XDEQ-1-37" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li>A new study has shown a link between social media use and depression.</li>
<li>Research has been hinting at the connection for several years, but scientists from the University of Pennsylvania say this is the most comprehensive, rigorous study yet.</li>
<li>People tend to show a more glamorous, positive, and envious lifestyle on their social media.</li>
<li>But social media isn't all bad.</li>
<li>Like many things, it's all about balance and moderation.</li>
</ul>
<p>Ever since sites like Facebook and Instagram became part of daily life, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-use-can-contribute-to-anxiety-and-depression-2015-6?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scientists have wondered whether they contribute to mental health problems</a>. In fact, research has hinted at a connection between social media use and depression for several years.</p>
<p>A new study, <a href="https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/10.1521/jscp.2018.37.10.751" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology</a>, has added more evidence to the theory.</p>
<p>The researchers from the University of Pennsylvania designed their experiment to be more comprehensive than previous studies on the topic. Rather than relying on short-term lab data or self-reported questionnaires, they recruited 143 undergraduate students to share screenshots of their Phone battery screens over a week to collect data on how much they were using social media apps &mdash; Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram.</p>
<p>Subjects were told either to maintain their typical social media behaviour, or limit it to 10 minutes per day. Alongside the screen shot data, the researchers also looked at how much the participants experienced fear of missing out, anxiety, depression, and loneliness.</p>
<p><img src="https://static5.thisisinsider.com/image/5be9652948eb121d575df703-889/shutterstock485036224.jpg" border="0" alt="friends traveling and take selfie" data-mce-source="Cookie Studio/Shutterstock" data-link="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/friends-travelers-backpacks-smiling-making-selfie-485036224?src=fJ-4QT7kDnzaLOUF2WK2ng-1-21" /></p>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-use-can-contribute-to-anxiety-and-depression-2015-6?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yale psychiatrist has one explanation for why students these days are so anxious</a></em></p>
<p>"Here's the bottom line," said Melissa G. Hunt, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania and lead author of the study. "Using less social media than you normally would leads to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness. These effects are particularly pronounced for folks who were more depressed when they came into the study."</p>
<p>She added 18-to-22-year-olds shouldn't stop using social media altogether, but cutting down might be beneficial.</p>
<p>"It is a little ironic that reducing your use of social media actually makes you feel less lonely," she said.</p>
<p>"Some of the existing literature on social media suggests there's an enormous amount of social comparison that happens. When you look at other people's lives, particularly on Instagram, it's easy to conclude that everyone else's life is cooler or better than yours."</p>
<p>People tend to show a more glamorous, positive, and envious lifestyle on their social media. In fact, over half of millennials admit they <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/social-media-presenting-better-life-unhealthy-mental-health-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">portray their relationship as better than it really is</a>.</p>
<p>This is a problem because your social media life can become like a negative feedback loop &mdash; wanting others to be jealous of your life, while constantly comparing yourself to those on your feed.</p>
<p>"If you spend most of your time scrolling through your newsfeed checking out other people's lives and compare them to your own, you become more at risk of developing (or having worsening) symptoms of depression or anxiety," psychologist <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-posts-could-help-diagnose-mental-health-problems-2017-8?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Allison Abrams told Business Insider</a>. "This is especially so in those with low self esteem."</p>
<p><em><strong>Read more:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/social-media-presenting-better-life-unhealthy-mental-health-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Half of millennials portray their relationship on social media as better than it really is &mdash; here's why that's a problem</a></em></p>
<p>A study earlier this year found <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ideal-screen-time-is-one-hour-per-day-study-says-2018-3?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">teens who spend too much time looking at screens are more unhappy</a>. But, if they spent just less than an hour using the technology, the opposite was true.</p>
<p>The results suggest social media and screens should be used in moderation, just like most things. But they are probably not as bad for us as we've been led to believe.</p>
<p>In fact, one expert &mdash; Andrew Przybylski, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute &mdash; <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-iphone-facebook-instagram-addiction-2018-3?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Business Insider that much of our bias against social media may simply be a projection of our own fears</a>. We talk to each other about how smartphones are decreasing our intelligence and ruining our real friendships, but in reality, we may just be worrying that this is true.</p>
<p><img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5be9631448eb121ebe5943b3-1778/screen night time.jpg" border="0" alt="screen night time" data-mce-source="Burdun Iliya / Shutterstock" data-link="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sad-female-teenager-tablet-computer-laptop-522018253?src=90ZgtuAV8GBciak4FfURvQ-1-14" /></p>
<p>Looking at screens isn't a good idea if you're doing it in lieu of any physical exercise or sleep. But used in moderation, technology is handy for staying in touch with friends when in-person contact isn't a possibility, and video games can improve your skills in <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201502/cognitive-benefits-playing-video-games" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coordination, problem-solving, and memory</a>.</p>
<p>Hunt said the new study only looked at three social media apps, so it's not clear if it applies more broadly. But she hopes to answer more questions with further research. Overall, she said there are two conclusions we can reach from the study's results.</p>
<p>"When you're not busy getting sucked into clickbait social media, you're actually spending more time on things that are more likely to make you feel better about your life." she said. "In general, I would say, put your phone down and be with the people in your life."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-posts-could-help-diagnose-mental-health-problems-2017-8?r=US&IR=T" >How social networks like Instagram could help identify when someone is depressed</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/social-media-link-depression-loneliness-2018-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/a-doctor-is-using-fish-skin-to-help-heal-animals-burned-in-wildfires-2019-1">A doctor is using fish skin to help heal animals burned in wildfires</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/ariana-grande-breathin-music-video-2018-11Ariana Grande's stunning new music video illustrates her battle with anxietyhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/ariana-grande-breathin-music-video-2018-11
Wed, 07 Nov 2018 12:29:23 -0500Callie Ahlgrim
<p><img src="https://static6.thisisinsider.com/image/5be31fbb48eb120a342361b4-1920/screen%20shot%202018-11-07%20at%20121135%20pm.jpg" border="0" alt="breathin music video ariana grande" data-mce-source="Ariana Grande/YouTube" data-mce-caption="A still from Ariana Grande's music video for &amp;quotBreathin.&amp;quot" data-link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN0iD0pI3o0"></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li>
<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/category/ariana-grande" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ariana Grande</a> released her newest music video on Wednesday.</li>
<li>The popular song "Breathin" — which comes from her recent album "Sweetener" — is about <a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/ariana-grandes-new-song-breathin-is-about-her-anxiety-fans-are-loving-the-singers-openness-10151138" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grande overcoming her struggles with anxiety</a>.</li>
<li>The video seems to visually depict cloudy thoughts and Grande having difficulty with living in the moment.</li>
<li>The video also gives fans a brief look at a new tattoo behind Grande's right ear, which says "REM" — the title of another song off "Sweetener."</li>
<li>Watch the video, directed by <span>Hannah Lux Davis,</span> below.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<iframe width="800" height="450" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kN0iD0pI3o0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
<p><span><em>Visit </em><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/"><em>INSIDER's homepage</em></a><em> for more.</em></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/ariana-grande-thank-u-next-was-turned-into-a-meme-2018-11" >People are turning Ariana Grande's new song 'Thank U, Next' into a meme</a></strong></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/ariana-grande-breathin-music-video-2018-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/mrs-maisel-long-shot-2019-1">How “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” filmed this long scene in one shot for Season 2</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/most-promising-uses-psychedelic-drugs-medicine-science-2018-10Evidence is mounting that psychedelic drugs can help treat diseases. Here are the most promising useshttps://www.thisisinsider.com/most-promising-uses-psychedelic-drugs-medicine-science-2018-10
Tue, 30 Oct 2018 14:23:00 -0400Erin Brodwin
<p><img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5bd8a292bde70f0a8e0be3a8-886/shutterstock505346392.jpg" border="0" alt="shrooms magic mushrooms psilocybin" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><strong>There's been a recent resurgence of interest in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">psychedelic drugs' potential</a> to address conditions like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-trip-therapy-2018-1">anxiety</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-therapy-depression-2017-7">depression</a>. </strong></li>
<li><strong>That research is beginning to lead to the development of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ketamine-closer-to-becoming-depression-drug-2018-4">new and novel drugs</a>.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Illicit drugs like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-therapy-depression-2017-7">mushrooms</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ecstasy-mdma-medical-legalization-ptsd-2017-8">ecstasy (MDMA)</a>, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/depression-medication-treatment-ketamine-2018-2">ketamine</a> are inspiring a range of potential treatments for diseases that currently lack good medications.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Once portrayed as illegal ways to "drop out" or "tune in," psychedelic and semi-psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and ecstasy are finally starting to turn into federally-regulated medicines.</p>
<p>The tide began to turn over the summer, when a little-known startup backed by Silicon Valley tech mogul Peter Thiel churned out enough of the active ingredient in magic mushrooms to send 20,000 people on a psychedelic trip. It was part of a larger research effort by the company, called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-backed-startup-making-magic-mushrooms-2018-7">Compass Pathways</a>, to study how psychedelic drugs could be used to treat depression.</p>
<p>It was only the beginning. Earlier this month, a German entrepreneur launched a new company called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-psychedelic-research-startup-mushrooms-psilocybin-depression-atai-2018-9">Atai Life Sciences</a> with $25 million to back more studies that explore the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs on psychiatric disease. And last week, federal regulators deemed psilocybin worthy of "breakthrough status," a designation designed to speed the drug approval process for treatments that serve unmet needs.</p>
<p>MDMA, better known as ecstasy, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ecstasy-mdma-medical-legalization-ptsd-2017-8">nabbed that designation</a> last year. Just this week, researchers published a <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269881118806297">new study</a> that suggested MDMA could help people dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).</p>
<p>Prior to the recent wave of research, the study of psychedelic substances &mdash; many of which remain officially recognized as Schedule 1 drugs with no legal medical use &mdash; was nearly impossible. But in recent years, the efforts have begun to make headway.</p>
<p>The obvious psychedelic suspects aren't the only drugs in the realm that are turning into medicines. The first prescription drug made with marijuana, which many experts consider a psychedelic in high enough doses, was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-approved-fda-2018-5">green-lit by U.S. federal regulators</a> in June.</p>
<h2>A type of ecstasy might accelerate PTSD therapy</h2>
<p><img src="https://static2.thisisinsider.com/image/5aea15d742e1cc0ae15741f0-977/screen shot 2014-10-29 at 25047 pm.png" border="0" alt="mdma, molly, drugs" data-mce-source="Reuters/ DEA " /></p>
<p>On Monday, researchers published the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269881118806297">latest findings</a> of a year-long&nbsp;study designed to assess if MDMA could play a role in treatment for PTSD. Their positive findings suggest that it could.</p>
<p>After the treatment, in which<span>&nbsp;patients were given MDMA alongside traditional talk therapy and compared with a group that got the same treatment only using a placebo instead of the drug, some three-quarters of the participants no longer met the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis. In other words, their symptoms had resolved. </span></p>
<p><span>That's a significant result. One of the chief problems with current talk therapy is that even when patients are able to afford and access the treatment, they grow tired of the painful process of rehashing traumatic events and sometimes disappear for months on end, according to psychiatrist <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ecstasy-mdma-medical-legalization-ptsd-2017-8">Julie Holland</a>, who currently serves as a medical observer for the MDMA study.</span></p>
<p><span>Still,&nbsp;</span>the treatment was tied to some unpleasant side effects including insomnia, tiredness, and headaches. The drug, which <span>amps up the activity of chemical messengers involved in mood regulation,</span> can be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ecstacy-legalization-2015-10">dangerous when used without medical supervision</a> because it raises body temperature and blood pressure.</p>
<p>MDMA also recently received a key <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ecstasy-mdma-medical-legalization-ptsd-2017-8">federal designation</a> designed to hasten the research and approval process. Some experts believe the drug will be approved <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ecstasy-can-help-people-with-ptsd-according-to-a-new-study-2018-5">as early as 2021</a>.</p>
<h2>A compound in magic mushrooms is showing promise for anxiety</h2>
<p><img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5bd8a293bde70f0b730c3d62-2222/shutterstock478308472.jpg" border="0" alt="shrooms magic mushrooms psilocybin" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" />Researchers studying <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/johns-hopkins-researchers-magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-medicine-legal-schedule-5-2018-10">psilocybin</a>, the main psychoactive ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms, have likened its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">quick effects on cancer patients</a> to a "surgical intervention" for depression.</p>
<p>Brain scan studies suggest that depression ramps up the activity in brain circuits linked with negative emotions, and weakens the activity in circuits linked with positive ones. Psilocybin <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">appears to restore balance</a> to that system.</p>
<p>Two for-profit companies are currently leading the research in the space. The first, called Compass Pathways, is backed by entrepreneur Peter Thiel and has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-magic-mushrooms-psychedelics-depression-science-2017-12">plans to start its own clinical trials of magic mushrooms for depression</a> later this year. The second, a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-psychedelic-research-startup-mushrooms-psilocybin-depression-atai-2018-9">biotech startup launched last month</a> called Atai, is focused on financing more of the kind of research that Compass is doing. Atai has already raised $25 million from investors like ex-hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz and Icelandic entrepreneur Thor Bjorgolfsson.</p>
<p>Some researchers have high hopes that a psilocybin-inspired drug will get approved within a decade. <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/d.nutt">David Nutt</a>, director of the neuropsychopharmacology unit at Imperial College London, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/when-psychedelics-approved-for-mental-illness-depression-2017-1">told Business Insider last year</a> that he believed psilocybin would become an "accepted treatment" for depression before 2027.</p>
<h2>The first prescription drug made from marijuana won federal approval this summer</h2>
<p><img src="https://static4.thisisinsider.com/image/58f8ec0edd08959e088b4a5b-889/undefined" border="0" alt="cannabis" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" />The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-approved-fda-2018-5">first prescription drug</a> made from marijuana won federal approval this summer.</p>
<p>Called Epidiolex, the drug is designed to treat two rare forms of childhood epilepsy using a cannabis compound called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-cbd-boom-cbd-2018-6">cannabidiol (or CBD)</a>.</p>
<p>British-based GW Pharmaceuticals makes the drug. It does not contain THC, the well-known psychoactive component of marijuana responsible for the drug's characteristic high.</p>
<p>The federal thumbs-up comes on the heels of several months of promising research results and a positive preliminary vote from the Food and Drug Administration this spring. Experts are hopeful that the approval will unleash a wave of new interest in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-cbd-in-marijuana-2018-2">potential medical applications of CBD</a> and other marijuana compounds to treat other psychiatric and neurological diseases.</p>
<h2>Ketamine is inspiring a handful of novel drugs for depression</h2>
<p><img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5bd8a293bde70f0b730c3d63-1500/shutterstock1052867048.jpg" border="0" alt="IV drip patient" data-mce-source="ravipat/Shutterstock" />A widely used anesthetic that is also known as a party drug, ketamine <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/depression-medication-treatment-ketamine-2018-2">was shown to have benefits as a rapid-fire antidepressant</a> nearly a decade ago. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4424898/">Early studies</a> suggested ketamine could help people who failed to respond to existing medications or were suicidal.</p>
<p>The authors of one paper called ketamine "<a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/338/6103/68.full">the most important discovery in half a century</a>."</p>
<p>As opposed to existing antidepressants, ketamine acts on a brain mechanism that scientists have only recently begun to explore. Homing in on this channel appears to provide relief from depression that is better, arrives faster, and works in far more people than current drugs.</p>
<p>After a lack of new drugs for depression spurred scientists to go back to the drawing board, pharmaceutical companies like Allergan and Johnson &amp; Johnson are now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/drugs-for-depression-ketamine-2018-4">in hot pursuit of new blockbuster depression drugs</a> that take after ketamine.</p>
<p>Allergan's drug is in the last phase of clinical trials and has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/depression-medication-treatment-ketamine-2018-2">received a key FDA designation</a> designed to speed it through the approval process. A Johnson &amp; Johnson spokesperson <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/depression-medication-treatment-ketamine-2018-5">told Business Insider</a> that it expects to file for FDA approval of its drug &mdash; a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/depression-medication-treatment-ketamine-2018-5">nasal spray</a> made with the chemical mirror image of ketamine &mdash; this year, despite what some experts have called <a href="https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/j-j-preps-for-esketamine-filing-resistant-depression-despite-a-missed-trial">disappointing results</a> from a study done in its most recent phase of research.</p>
<h2>Read more of our psychedelic medicine coverage:</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">Why psychedelics like magic mushrooms kill the ego and fundamentally transform the brain</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dea-shift-marijuana-cbd-check-booming-industry-2018-10">The DEA's surprising shift on marijuana could keep a booming $1 billion industry in check, experts say</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ketamine-depression-brain-how-it-works-opioid-2018-8">Stanford researchers are learning how ketamine fights depression &mdash; and why the drug's called 'the most important discovery in half a century</a>'</li>
</ul><p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/most-promising-uses-psychedelic-drugs-medicine-science-2018-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/trying-amazon-skin-care-products-for-under-15-2019-1">I swapped out my daily skin care products for cheaper versions found on Amazon under $15 — and some surprised me</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/cbd-oil-for-anxiety-experience-2018-10I tried CBD oil to help with my anxiety — and I'm still not sure that it workedhttps://www.thisisinsider.com/cbd-oil-for-anxiety-experience-2018-10
Fri, 26 Oct 2018 09:39:00 -0400Jennifer Still
<p><img src="https://static5.thisisinsider.com/image/5a5007d2ec1ade79245f9e90-2000/gettyimages-696675002.jpg" border="0" alt="medical marijuana vaping vaporizer CBD oil" data-mce-source="Spencer Platt/Getty" data-mce-caption="Jordan Michelle vapes a CBD oil made from hemp at the Cannabis World Congress Conference on June 16, 2017 in New York City. Billed as 'the leading trade show and conference for the legalized cannabis, medical marijuana, and industrial hemp industries,' the 4th annual conference brings together dozens of both small and large businesses involved in the growing hemp and marijuana market." /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li><strong>Studies have shown that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-cbd-oil-how-made-marijuana-cannabis-plant-health-2018-8">cannabidiol (CBD)</a> can reduce anxiety in people with generalized social anxiety disorder.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Here&rsquo;s author Jennifer Still&rsquo;s experience of trying out various <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-cbd-industry-boom-products-2018-7">CBD products</a> to help with her anxiety.</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Generalized anxiety disorder affects </span><a href="https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics"><span style="font-weight: 400;">more than 6.8 million people</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in the US, and </span><a href="https://www.livescience.com/57170-americans-psychiatrics-drug-use.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">one in six Americans are on prescribed psychiatric drugs</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to treat the condition or another mental health issue. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While I&rsquo;ve never been officially diagnosed with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-psychotherapist-shares-4-ways-you-can-channel-your-anxiety-into-something-positive-2017-8">anxiety</a>, working in a high-stress job and being an anxiety-prone person means I have flare-ups that can leave me feeling </span><a href="https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/anxiety-disorders#1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">tense, irritable, and generally unwell</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Thankfully, I don&rsquo;t experience these episodes enough to warrant pharmaceutical intervention, but I did want to find a natural way to manage my <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-psychotherapist-shares-4-ways-you-can-channel-your-anxiety-into-something-positive-2017-8">anxiety</a> when it does crop up. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After hearing positive things about cannabidiol (<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881110379283">CBD) oil&rsquo;s effect on our ability to relax</a> and de-stress for those with generalized social anxiety disorder, I decided to give it a go. Here&rsquo;s my experience. </span></p><h3>I spent a lot of time searching online for a high-quality product.</h3>
<img src="https://static1.thisisinsider.com/image/5bd23765bde70f4cc960001e-400-300/i-spent-a-lot-of-time-searching-online-for-a-high-quality-product.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I decided to start taking CBD oil while staying in the UK, which meant that I was looking for a product made and sold in this country to purchase. It&rsquo;s a </span><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-44534861"><span style="font-weight: 400;">legal cannabinoid in the UK</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which means it&rsquo;s pretty readily available online and in </span><a href="https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/jacob-hooy-cbd-oil-2-75-60008899"><span style="font-weight: 400;">health shops such as Holland &amp; Barrett</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I eventually went with a brand called </span><a href="https://love-hemp.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">LoveHemp</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. To start, I chose to take CBD in oil form with a </span><a href="https://puregreenliving.com/calculate-cbd-oil-concentration"><span style="font-weight: 400;">10% concentration</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. This is pretty middle of the road in terms of dosage, with products available in as low as 2% and as high as 40% concentrations online.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>It didn’t make me spaced out, and I didn’t feel ‘high.’</h3>
<img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5bd23765bde70f4cc960001f-400-300/it-didnt-make-me-spaced-out-and-i-didnt-feel-high.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A lot of people get </span><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/cbd-vs-thc"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CBD, or cannabidiol, confused with THC</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the latter of which is the psychoactive element in marijuana that gets you high. They&rsquo;re definitely not the same. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">CBD is a separate substance which contains no THC, so you won&rsquo;t get high when taking CBD as a supplement. Instead, </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/19/war-on-drugs-medical-cannabis-children-alfie-dingley"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CBD contains compounds which have shown promise for medical uses</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, including relief from epilepsy, </span><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/cbd-oil-for-rheumatoid-arthritis"><span style="font-weight: 400;">arthritis</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3349875/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">diabetes</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, and </span><a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0269881110379283"><span style="font-weight: 400;">anxiety</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p>One caveat: Many of these studies have involved marijuana strains that contain both CBD and THC. That means <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-cbd-industry-boom-products-2018-7">further research on CBD</a> alone is needed.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After my first and any subsequent dosages, it didn&rsquo;t change my state of mind at all. I wasn&rsquo;t groggy, wired, excitable, or &ldquo;high.&rdquo; I felt just like myself. </span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>I experienced a subtle but noticeable difference in my anxiety levels.</h3>
<img src="https://static6.thisisinsider.com/image/5bd23765bde70f4cc9600020-400-300/i-experienced-a-subtle-but-noticeable-difference-in-my-anxiety-levels.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While it wasn&rsquo;t like I was 100% stress-free overnight, I did notice within a week or so of taking CBD oil &mdash; roughly six to eight drops under the tongue, held for 90 seconds and then swallowed, twice a day &mdash; that I felt less anxious and tense. Things that usually bothered me, like unanswered emails or things going wrong with work, were easier to take in stride. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It also helped that I was sleeping better at night. I hadn&rsquo;t cut out caffeine or changed anything else about my lifestyle, so I can only attribute the improved ability to fall and stay asleep to the CBD oil. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, studies have shown that CBD oil has </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5895650/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">no significant clinical effect on sleep patterns</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Maybe it was a placebo effect.</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/cbd-oil-for-anxiety-experience-2018-10#/#i-experimented-with-different-forms-of-cbd-until-i-found-one-that-fit-4">See the rest of the story at INSIDER</a> https://www.thisisinsider.com/johns-hopkins-researchers-magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-medicine-legal-schedule-5-2018-10A team of Johns Hopkins researchers is calling for magic mushrooms to be made legally available as medicinehttps://www.thisisinsider.com/johns-hopkins-researchers-magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-medicine-legal-schedule-5-2018-10
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 10:52:00 -0400Erin Brodwin
<p><img src="https://static3.thisisinsider.com/image/5bbf6724dde8676c7b5ec2af-886/shutterstock505346392.jpg" border="0" alt="shrooms magic mushrooms psilocybin" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" /></p><p></p>
<ul class="summary-list">
<li>A group of Johns Hopkins University scientists wrote in a recent journal article that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-psychedelic-research-startup-mushrooms-psilocybin-depression-atai-2018-9">psilocybin</a>, the active ingredient in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">psychedelic magic mushrooms</a>, has a low risk of harm and a high potential as a therapeutic drug.</li>
<li>There's been a resurgence of interest lately in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-drugs-from-mdma-mushrooms-ketamine-marijuana-2018-5">psychedelics' therapeutic potential</a> for a variety of mental health applications, from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ketamine-depression-brain-how-it-works-opioid-2018-8">depression</a> to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">anxiety</a>.</li>
<li>Pending results from several ongoing clinical trials, the researchers called for psilocybin to be placed in the most lenient category by the Drug Enforcement Administration &mdash; <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-approved-dea-cbd-2018-9">alongside CBD, which was rescheduled last month,</a> and cough syrup.<strong><br /></strong></li>
</ul>
<p>It's not every day that a team of top-notch scientists calls for an illegal <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-drugs-from-mdma-mushrooms-ketamine-marijuana-2018-5">psychedelic drug</a> to be made available as medicine.</p>
<p>But earlier this year, some of the leading researchers at Johns Hopkins University &mdash; people who've pioneered some of the highest-caliber studies on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">psychedelics' therapeutic mental health potential</a> &mdash; suggested that's what should happen for a drug derived from magic mushrooms.</p>
<p>In a recent <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390818302296?via%3Dihub#!">article</a> published in the medical journal Neuropharmacology, four preeminent psychiatrists wrote that psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, should be placed in the most lenient category by the Drug Enforcement Administration and made legally available through clinicians, pending final data from several ongoing clinical trials.</p>
<p>In essence, they argue, the potential benefits presented by psilocybin outweigh its possible harms.</p>
<p>The available evidence suggests they're correct.</p>
<p>Although the DEA currently considers psilocybin a Schedule I drug "with no medical use," the past decade has seen a resurgence of research on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">psychedelics' therapeutic possibilities</a> for treating psychiatric diseases like anxiety and depression. A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/magic-mushrooms-safety-new-survey-2017-5">large recent survey</a>&nbsp;also suggested that magic mushrooms could be among the safest recreational drugs.</p>
<p>That suggests to several experts &mdash; including the authors of the recent article &mdash; that psilocybin should be handled differently than, say, heroin or bath salts (other Schedule I drugs).</p>
<p>"It is the opinion of the authors of this review that the original placement of psilocybin was the result of a substantial overestimation of the risk of harm and abuse potential," they wrote.</p>
<p>The authors included Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine professors of psychiatry Matthew Johnson, Roland Griffiths, and Jack Henningfield; as well as Peter Hendricks, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Public Health.</p>
<h2>A resurgence of interest in psychedelics as medicine</h2>
<p><img src="https://static6.thisisinsider.com/image/5a2ee7d1ec1ade560c4ec8c2-971/screen shot 2017-12-11 at 105611 am.png" border="0" alt="man silhouette alone sunrise sunset" data-mce-source="Daiana Lorenz/Youtube" />Over the past several years, a handful of studies have suggested that psychedelic drugs like psilocybin could help treat a range of mental illnesses, including anxiety, depression, drug addiction, and PTSD.</p>
<p>One of those studies &mdash; a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5367557/">clinical trial</a> published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology in 2016 &mdash; was written by Griffiths and Johnson, two authors of the recent piece outlining why psilocybin should be made medically available. Griffiths' and Johnson's seminal work concluded that in people with a terminal cancer diagnosis, a single high dose of psilocybin appeared to help <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">pull them out of severe depression and anxiety</a>. On a press call after the study came out, Griffiths likened the treatment to "a surgical intervention" for the mental illnesses.</p>
<p>Since then, research into drugs like LSD, ecstasy, ketamine, and marijuana (which many experts consider to have psychedelic properties) has abounded. Last year, a study suggested that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ecstasy-mdma-medical-legalization-ptsd-2017-8"> ecstasy could help veterans</a> cope with PTSD symptoms. Another recent paper hinted that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/drugs-for-depression-ketamine-2018-4"> ketamine could be used to curb</a> severe depression. Several more recent studies of psilocybin have suggested it might help treat <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03300947">obsessive-compulsive disorder</a> as well.</p>
<p>"At this point, the data suggest that the potential therapeutic benefits of psilocybin-assisted therapy are real, and of potential medical and public health significance," the four authors wrote in their recent article.</p>
<p>The findings on psychedelics are also garnering the attention of investors and tech moguls. Just last month, German entrepreneur Christian Angermeyer launched a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-psychedelic-research-startup-mushrooms-psilocybin-depression-atai-2018-9">new biotech company called Atai</a> with the mission of backing more psychedelic mental health research. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-backed-startup-making-magic-mushrooms-2018-7">Compass Pathways</a>, a research startup studying and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-backed-startup-making-magic-mushrooms-2018-7">producing</a> psilocybin for depression, recently attracted backing from tech magnate Peter Thiel.</p>
<p>But the legal classifications of these drugs not be keeping adequate pace with the research or the investments.</p>
<h2>'Replacing fear and misinformation with scientifically based facts'</h2>
<p>Despite the ongoing research, neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the DEA has announced an intent to reschedule psilocybin or any other psychedelic. But such a move could happen. It did recently with marijuana.</p>
<p>In June, the FDA approved the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-approved-fda-2018-5">first medicine made with a compound from cannabis</a>. Called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-approved-dea-cbd-2018-9">Epidiolex</a>, the drug treats two rare forms of epilepsy using CBD, a marijuana compound that's not responsible for a high. As a result of the FDA's green light, the DEA was forced to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-approved-dea-cbd-2018-9">reclassify CBD</a>.</p>
<p>"We don't have a choice on that," DEA public affairs officer Barbara Carreno told Business Insider in June. "It absolutely has to become Schedule 2, 3, 4, or 5."</p>
<p>So this September, the DEA officially shifted its stance on marijuana for the first time in 46 years by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/marijuana-epilepsy-drug-approved-dea-cbd-2018-9">putting CBD in Schedule 5</a> alongside substances like cough syrup and sleep aids &mdash; all drugs that the agency considers at the lowest risk of abuse or harm.</p>
<p>In their article on psilocybin, the authors write that it too should be placed in Schedule 5, pending its approval as a medicine. Some experts say that could happen <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/when-psychedelics-approved-for-mental-illness-depression-2017-1">as soon as 2027</a>.</p>
<p>"Schedule I is for substances with a high potential for abuse, lack of therapeutic approval, and that cannot be used safely in medicine," they write. "History of use and available scientific data show that the first criterion is questionable, and the third criterion is likely not true."</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the research on psilocybin is continuing to blossom. Clinical trial results from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-backed-startup-making-magic-mushrooms-2018-7">Compass</a> are expected before 2020; researchers at the University of California, San Francisco are <a href="http://betablog.org/magic-mushrooms-therapy-long-term-hiv-survivors/">currently enrolling patients</a> in a study to see whether psilocybin could assist in group therapy to improve the mental health of long-term AIDS survivors; and scientists at New York University <a href="https://maps.org/other-psychedelic-research/211-psilocybin-research/psilocybin-studies-in-progress/6694-a-double-blind-trial-of-psilocybin-assisted-treatment-of-alcohol-dependence">aim to study</a> whether psilocybin could be used to treat alcoholism.</p>
<p>Johnson, Griffiths, Henningfield, and Hendricks seem to believe the future of those studies &mdash; and psilocybin's potential &mdash; is bright.</p>
<p>"This area of regulatory science has the potential to facilitate innovative therapeutic breakthroughs by replacing fear and misinformation with scientifically based conclusions and facts," they wrote.</p>
<h2>Read more of our psychedelic medicine coverage:</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/psychedelics-depression-anxiety-alcoholism-mental-illness-2017-1">Why psychedelics like magic mushrooms kill the ego and fundamentally transform the brain</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-psychedelic-research-startup-mushrooms-psilocybin-depression-atai-2018-9">A new biotech company has raised $25 million to help unleash a 'virgin market' of psychedelic research</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-drugs-from-mdma-mushrooms-ketamine-marijuana-2018-5">Psychedelic drugs appear to fundamentally reorganize the brain &mdash; and they're starting to turn into approved treatments</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ketamine-depression-brain-how-it-works-opioid-2018-8">Stanford researchers are learning how ketamine fights depression &mdash; and why the drug's called 'the most important discovery in half a century</a>'</li>
</ul><p><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/johns-hopkins-researchers-magic-mushrooms-psilocybin-medicine-legal-schedule-5-2018-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/mcdonalds-big-mac-burger-order-self-serve-customize-2019-1">We tested out McDonald's self-serve kiosks to see how far we could customize a Big Mac</a></p> https://www.thisisinsider.com/anxiety-disorder-vs-worry-2018-10How to spot the difference between everyday worries and an anxiety disorder, according to expertshttps://www.thisisinsider.com/anxiety-disorder-vs-worry-2018-10
Mon, 08 Oct 2018 17:05:51 -0400Julia Guerra
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img src="https://static2.thisisinsider.com/image/58768de055b10657168b4747-1422/shutterstock281156501.jpg" border="0" alt="depression anxiety mental health" data-mce-source="Shutterstock" /></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the US, affecting </span><a href="https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics"><span style="font-weight: 400;">18.1% of the US population</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> each year.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although worry is a defining trait of anxiety, not everyone who worries suffers from an <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/myths-about-anxiety-2017-11">anxiety disorder</a>. This can make the difference between the two confusing, psychologist </span><a href="https://drdanielleforshee.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dr. Danielle Forshee, LLC</span></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">told INSIDER. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So how can you know if you're worrying an everyday amount</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;or suffering from an <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/things-that-make-anxiety-worse-2018-8">anxiety disorder</a>? INSIDER spoke to experts to learn how to spot the difference.&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/myths-about-anxiety-2017-11" >7 myths people still get wrong about anxiety</a></strong></p>
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<h3>Anxiety is made up of a cluster of worries.</h3>
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<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dr. John Mayer,&nbsp;the clinical physiologist at <a href="http://www.doctorondemand.com/">Doctor On Demand</a>, defined "worry" as an "apprehensive expectation," something identifiable that you feel uneasy about.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Worry is typically focused on one target, whereas anxiety is all-encompassing </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;&mdash; you worry about many things and for much of the day &mdash; for example, I am walking home alone late at night and I might get mugged," Mayer</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;told INSIDER.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anxiety's root cause, Mayer added, is "often not identifiable, and therefore more frightening whereas worry we can typically identify the focus of our worry."</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Worry and anxiety occur in different parts of the brain.</h3>
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<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mayer told INSIDER that normal bouts of worry develop in the pre-frontal cortex, aka&nbsp;the "thinking part of the brain" while anxiety, he explained, engages parts of the brain "that incite the fear response," such as the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anxiety prompts the limbic system, which controls your emotions and how you react to them, as well as your motivation and memory, Mayer explained. Therefore, professionals consider worrying to be purely thinking, but view anxiety as something that is both cognitive and physical. </span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Anxiety is as physical as it is mental.</h3>
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<p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to Forshee, normal worry comes and goes in a short amount of time, so even though you might feel some tension, restlessness, and irritability associated with it what you're feeling isn't the same as the physiological response that ensues from an anxiety disorder.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Those who suffer from generalized anxiety disorder experience a physiological response as a result of their brain associating the worry thoughts with an actual perceived threat," Forshee told INSIDER. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"This throws the brain into a fight or flight response that generates an increased heart rate, sweating, feelings of tension, difficulty breathing, etc."</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/anxiety-disorder-vs-worry-2018-10#/#normal-worry-can-pass-pretty-quickly-but-anxiety-lingers-4">See the rest of the story at INSIDER</a>